Residents gather to petition for chronic flooding fix in Meigs County
Standing pools of water along State Route 304 in Ten Mile two days after the most recent rainfall.
MEIGS COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- In 2023 we brought you the story of a small Meigs County community dealing with chronic flooding issues.
The lakeside community of Ten Mile near Watts Bar Dam sits along State Route 304.
We were first made aware of these issues as residents hope it would be fixed.
However, residents say not much has changed.
What we saw on Friday afternoon confirms that, as across the street from the Driftwood Diner on SR 304 in front of a former bank, multiple pools of standing water were standing feet from the main highway.
Despite the most recent rainfall occurring on Wednesday night, it had appeared a heavy shower had just gone through the town right before we got there.
Resident Martha Culverhouse tells us these pools are always there no matter how long it has been since it rained, noting “It didn’t use to be like that.”
With the concerns mounting over multiple years about this apparent drainage issue leading to chronic flooding in the main commercial district of Ten Mile, many residents decided to stop by Driftwood Diner on Friday evening to sign a petition demanding that the state fix the ongoing flooding in Ten Mile along State Route 304.
The situation was at a standstill when we first reported on it due to a disagreement over who had responsibility for fixing this issue.
TDOT told us this back then:
“A private property owner made an unapproved connection to our drainage system, and their system has failed. This caused water to back up into our drainage system and flood a property on the opposite side of the road. TDOT has no authority to repair a private drainage system.”
However, many of the residents we spoke with say they believe that since TDOT is responsible for the maintenance of all state highways, they need to fix this issue.
Culverhouse said, “I don’t know if we don’t have adequate ditches or drainage or stormwater runoff. I don’t know what happened that caused that, but I know we need safe highways, adequate ditches, adequate stormwater.”
Steve Miller, who is running for Meigs County Road Superintendent, added, “It’s a state road, a state culvert, and it’s TDOT’s problem, and these people need some help. It’s been a long time.”
In the meantime, the safety of the community is of top concern.
Culverhouse said, “My main concern about this issue is that someone is going to be coming down the highway and not be aware that the water could come up that quickly and it would across the road. They would hydroplane and have a disastrous accident.”
She says that this area of Meigs County is one of the few commercial districts within some distance, especially during the summer with tourists coming to Watts Bar Lake.
They hope that they are not being overlooked.
Culverhouse said, “It’s adversely affecting not only our safety but the businesses that are working hard to make a go of it.”
The petition will be sent to TDOT and Representative Dan Howell, who those we spoke with say has communicated with them about this issue.
We reached out to both TDOT and Representative Howell’s for comment on this story, but did not hear back from either.
