Over the weekend, West Seventh Street did its best impression of the Trinity River. Viral videos showed the busy Fort Worth entertainment strip swallowed by fast-moving water, cars drifting out of parking spots, and people slogging through waist-deep floodwater. Neighbors and apartment residents watched from garage doors and balconies as the water rose in minutes, a visceral reminder for many that the drains beneath the street still cannot keep up with a big storm.
As reported by CBS News Texas, footage from last night showed vehicles floating, water above waist level, and residents scrambling to higher ground. One witness told reporters, “There were cars floating, there were people walking knee deep in water, it was really crazy.” The scenes quickly sparked urgent questions from residents about whether long-planned fixes will arrive in time to stop a repeat performance. City staff said crews responded to the flooding and were monitoring known trouble spots after the storm.
A decades-old problem
City engineers say the West 7th corridor has been a trouble spot for years, largely because the underground storm-drain network is undersized while the area above it has steadily filled in with pavement, buildings, and parking lots. Less grass and soil mean more water racing straight into drains that were never designed for this much development…