Flash flooding on West Seventh renews concerns over Fort Worth's aging storm drains
Flash flooding on West Seventh Street in Fort Worth over the weekend has renewed concerns about long‑standing drainage issues in one of the city's busiest entertainment districts.
Videos from Saturday night showed water rising above waist level, cars floating down the street, and residents scrambling to higher ground. For many who live nearby, it was a frightening but familiar scene.
"There were cars floating, there were people walking knee deep in water, it was really crazy," one witness said.
Residents in nearby apartments watched the water rise quickly. Breilynn Schoenberger said she rushed home when tornado sirens sounded, only to find her street turning into a river.
"Tornado sirens were going off, so we sprinted back home, went to cover for a little bit inside," she said. "Then there were some messages in the apartment group chat that the street was flooding, so we were actually standing at our parking garage watching it happen."
What she saw was startling.
"Literally floating, there were sirens going off. Yeah, it was crazy," she said.
A decades‑old problem
This isn't the first time the area has flooded. Footage from August 2022 shows nearly identical scenes — fast‑moving water, stranded drivers, and overwhelmed drains.
City officials say the problem is well-known and deeply rooted.
"This area has decades of flooding issues. The primary reason is the storm drain system is undersized," said Ben Thompson with the City of Fort Worth.
Fixing it, he said, is far from simple.
"We did high‑level planning in 2023. We estimated at that time that it would be about $110 million to mitigate most of this flooding, which is more than we have," Thompson said.
A long timeline for improvements
Fort Worth's entire stormwater management budget is $70 million – and the West Seventh drainage project is just one of many competing needs.
The city's current plan is to complete the first phase of improvements by 2029, with full completion expected two to three years after that.
"Every time it rains like this, we just cross our fingers that these flooding situations don't happen," Thompson said. "Unfortunately, when they do, our hearts breaks for these residents."
He added that stormwater crews routinely clear inlets and perform extra maintenance in known flood‑prone areas before major storms.
City asking for public input
For residents frustrated by the long timeline, the stormwater management team says they understand – and they want community feedback.
The city is currently designing its next 20‑year stormwater management plan and has posted a survey on its website for residents to share concerns and priorities.
