Heavy Precipitation Overnight Damages, Obstructs Roadways

Damage to roads outside the homes of Del Rio homeowners living on Tomahawk Trail resulted in visits from Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez and City Manager Shawna Burkhart. The storms washed out gravel used by city maintenance crews to fill space around gas lines, resulting in divots that run along the entire block, and reach 7 inches deep in some places.

Angie Prather says the gravel and divots have been a problem since May.

“They [the City of Del Rio] put in the gas lines in about May. And they filled it up but they didn’t put asphalt on it. And at the first rain, it started drifting all the debris (gravel) down to the corner… After last night, it washed out this whole road. It’s supposed to be a gas line…So if we drive across it, are we getting close to the gas line?”

Councilwoman Gutierrez says the state of the roads on Tomahawk are partly the fault of the City, but after witnessing the problem herself, she, along with Burkhart, vow to address the problem as quickly as possible. Gutierrez tells DRN that shortly after their visit, the use of county roadway material to fill the trenches was approved by Judge Lewis Owens and could be complete as soon as Monday. 

Separately, Commissioner Juan Carlos Vasquez tells DRN that Myers Road located north of the Border Patrol checkpoint is closed until Monday while it undergoes maintenance.

In total, Del Rio saw around 2-3 inches of rain, while areas north of Comstock saw a whopping 7-8 inches. DRN’s meteorologist Alex Menchaca, says This substantial rainfall contributed to the rapid rise of San Felipe Creek.