CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) — Lake Corpus Christi was up to 78-percent capacity Monday and is still rising due to all the rain that fell in Nueces County this week.
Water officials with the City of Corpus Christi predict the lake will be full before the end of the week, and in order to protect the Wesley Seale Dam and keep as much of the inflow as possible, they will be releasing water down river. That will cause flooding for property owners along the Nueces River near County Road 73.
County Road 73 was clear Monday near the Nueces River, but by the end of the week the whole neighborhood could be underwater.
On Monday afternoon, Nueces County Sheriff's Deputies went door to door warning residents along County Road 73 that water may be released from the Wesley Seale Dam. Usually when that happens a surge of water comes down the Nueces River and floods the area.
Residents often have to leave their homes behind or stay and hunker down until the water recedes.
The area is prone to flooding so most homes are built on stilts. To many, the rising water is just a major inconvenience, no matter how used to it they are.
Beverly Ayala lives just yards from the river. She hasn't been staying in her mobile home for two weeks since the rain started and on Monday afternoon she was going by to pick up some of her belongings.
"They, you know, leave their house there until the flood recedes, and last time it took about two months," Ayala said. "Two months. Two and a half months, almost three, before it was actually like, you know, not like this."
The City of Corpus Christi's Water Department officials said they are still thinking about releasing water from the dam by the end of the week.
"At this point we are still talking about it, and we have a plan that we've enacted in the past, and again the plan revolves around the three things: to maintain the health and safety as well as maintain the integrity of the dam, and ensure that the lake is full," said Gabriel Ramirez, Water Department Assistant Director.
The City said right now they have the raincon pump station running to release some water into the Nueces Bay and lower the river levels.
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