SMU Officers Death Prompts Survey On Turtle Creek Floods
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Funeral arrangements were made for SMU Police Officer Mark McCullers after searchers found his body earlier this week.
Flood waters in Turtle Creek swept him away in July while he was working an off-campus security job. Now his death is sparking a new push to fix an old problem -- flooding.
The part of Turtle Creek where water swept Officer McCullers away floods frequently, according to residents.
"The street gets really flooded, and sometimes it can get really dangerous because it'll look like you can drive down it, but your car could get submerged in it pretty quickly," said Turtle Creek resident Kristin Peckham.
Now the town of Highland Park has hired consulting firm Halff Associates to address the flooding problem. They're conducting a study, which is scheduled for completion in September. One option is to increase the size and capacity of the drainage pipes, which is a major project. Town officials said the process could require the cooperation of homeowners, among others.
"I think it's great that they're studying the situation. I think it's probably about time, but we don't want them to change anything, like the beauty of the Turtle Creek area," said Turtle Creek resident Karen Carrell.
Carell walks her dog JC near Turtle Creek frequently. She said flooding is an issue but that the event that killed Officer McCullers was rare. "That was just very unusual rains, and then two days in a row."
Resident Kristin Peckham said she won't even drive on Turtle Creek in the rain and whatever changes the town makes should have happened long ago.
"It's been a problem for however long I've lived here and probably longer than that," said Peckham. "It's good that they're doing it."
The study is costing the town $34,000. The engineering department will study the options and then present their findings to the town council, probably by the end of the year.
Officer McCullers' funeral takes place Monday, August 29 at 10 a.m. at Dallas–Fort Worth National Cemetery. The public is invited to attend.
