Flooding problems persist in Colerain Oaks community in St. Marys after Debby, neighbors say

People who live in the Colerain Oaks neighborhood of St. Marys say roads there are still experiencing flooding since Hurricane Debby hit the area earlier this month.

Action News Jax’s Shanila Kabir spent the morning in the area speaking with residents who felt the city of St. Marys needed to step in and replace an aging drainage system.

Many neighbors said their cars are being torn apart by a “pond” they have to drive through every day. They said some days it is impossible to drive through and many said they are looking to break their lease because of these conditions.

“It’s constant every time we get heavy rain and hurricanes. Actually, most of the time it’s a lot worse. Today is a lot milder than most days,” said Robert Walker.

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Earl Robinson, a longtime resident, said he lives in the Colerain Oaks neighborhood and that he and his neighbors often have to walk or miss work when floodwaters are more than a foot high.

“It disrupts a lot of people’s lives. We’re constantly thinking about how we’re going to get to work and how we’re going to get through. A lot of people’s cars have been left stranded along this road,” Robinson said.

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According to community manager Lynelle Davis, this is due to a long-standing drainage issue under Colerain Road, and she believes the city should start by building a trench through the underground culvert.

“I’ve been complaining since January that the ditches need to be cleaned. The city came almost two weeks ago and cut off the tops of the reeds that were in the ditch and then let them fold over and become a bigger problem.”

St. Marys City Manager Robby Horton told Action News Jax that he met with the community’s property manager the day after Hurricane Debby hit the area.

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He said in a statement:

“The real problem is the amount of rain in a short period of time that is overloading the already saturated ditches and drains. We are working hard to repair the equipment so that we can dig out the ditches.”

Neighbors say they hope this problem is resolved as soon as possible, especially if another hurricane hits southeast Georgia.

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