Va. Residents Fed Up With Flood Issues

Yesterday's floodwaters claimed the lives of three people in Fairfax County - two men and a 12-year-old boy were all swept away in separate incidents.

The floodwaters rushed into homes in the Cameron Run neighborhood of Huntington last night. But the incident isn't the first time the area has encountered flood problems. Flooding is a recurring issue that has left residents exasperated, and elected leaders unable to offer answers.

April Rogers has lived in her home in Huntington since 2002. She says last night's flooding wasn't as bad as the flooding that hit the neighborhood in 2006, but her basement is uninhabitable at the moment, and she says she's had enough.

"We've had it up to the fence, which is 11 feet of water, at least two or three times," she says. "And we sort of said if this happens again, we're done, we're out of here."

Across the street Kevin Dorsey pumped water out of his basement as well. He's lived here for 12 years, and says it's no longer worth it to live in Huntington.

"Yep, I think I'm out of here, I believe so," he says. 

But there are plenty of residents who want to stay, and they're angry that more hasn't been done to curb the regular flooding of Cameron Run.

The county has dredged the creek to create more capacity for storm water when the rains come, but Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who represents the area on Capitol Hill, says the solution is a $10 million floodwall and high-tech pump, but his efforts to get the federal government to pay for even half of the project have been rebuffed.

Moran says procuring federal funds for the project in today's political and economic climate will be even more difficult.

"They've been through this three times in ten years, it ought not happen again," Moran says. "It's our responsibility to see to it that it doesn't, but I'm not sure how we're going to go about ensuring that."

County leaders will discuss the flooding at a public meeting Saturday at 9 a.m.