ST. LOUIS — It was historic, flash flooding University City mom, Nanoy Bundavong will never forget.
“I’m still thinking about it and I’m still scared, still nervous every time we get a hard rain,” said Bundavong.
On July 26, 2022, torrential, record rainfall pounded the St. Louis region. Bundavong says rising water turned her Cabanne Street into an instant lake, covered her front yard and flooded her basement.
Firefighters had to rescue her 11-year-old son from his flooded basement.
“I just froze upstairs. I couldn’t get to him, and I was so worried. I tried to rescue him by myself. One year later we’re still working on all the repairs, our home insurance company won’t help us, we’re paying for the repairs and we are just trying to get it all back,” said the frustrated mom.
They aren’t the only flood victims still “trying to get their lives back on track” after the devastating floods.
“Well, I can say one year later, out situation is still horrible,” says U City resident Rachel Morten.
The Mortens’ four cars were destroyed during the relentless flash flooding.
“We now have one car and we’re using only one car to transport four people,” said Morten.
One year after the historic, record rainfall several homes on Bundavong’s street are still condemned.
Several families have also moved out of the neighborhood.
“I think the city could have done more,” said Bundavong.
That’s the message many homeowners took to a meeting with members of the Flood Task Force of the University Heights Association.
More than 100 people attended the meeting that was held at University City High School.
“We had seven and a half feet of water in our basement,” said Don Fitz, the Association’s Chairman.
Fitz told the city, state, federal officials and the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District that the nearby River Des Pere’s tunnel system must be cleaned out to prevent future catastrophic flooding.
“There’s still a lot of debris in the River Des Peres in the tunnel which is very close to my house, which we believe stopped up the tunnel and was a major factor in causing the flood. It needs to be cleaned up right way,” said Fitz.