Rowlett residents urge city action after June storms flood homes and close Primrose daycare

At the June 17 Rowlett City Council meeting, several residents described repeated, severe flooding on Scott Drive during a June 4 storm and asked the city to take concrete steps to stop homes from being inundated again. Parents and staff of Primrose School of Rowlett also urged the council to speed support after the school closed following a Liberty Grove sewer main collapse.

The pleas came during the meeting’s public‑comment period, where multiple people living on or near Scott Drive told the council they had longtime drainage problems and that the June 4 event left houses uninhabitable.

Mary Childs, who identified herself as a Scott Drive resident, said, “My entire house was completely flooded, much worse than in 1995 ... All of my walls have had to be cut up at least 2 feet.” She told the council that she had installed a French drain and a sump pump but that “none of that helped” during the recent storm.

Jay Farley, who said he lives at 4117 Scott Drive, said the storm caused “$100,000 in damages” to his home and accused recent development and maintenance lapses of increasing runoff into neighborhood streets. “That place used to be a giant field that was acting like a sponge,” Farley said, pointing to a new storage facility and other paved surfaces uphill. Farley also criticized what he described as a slow city response after the flood.

The council heard similar accounts from Robert Quisenberry, who said his house has flooded repeatedly since he bought it in 1984; he displayed photos and asked the council to address a recurring pool of silt and mud that forms in front of his driveway.

Several speakers asked the city to move quickly to protect property and to investigate long‑term drainage improvements for Scott Drive. “My neighbors and I deserve to not have to live in ... hard rain in Rowlett,” Childs said.

The meeting also drew multiple parents and staff members from Primrose School of Rowlett, who described the wider community impacts after the Liberty Grove sewer main collapse. Rachel Ashworth, a mother of two whose children attend Primrose, said the school’s closure forced families to relocate children to other cities and left parents scrambling for childcare. “This is an institution that brings immense value to our city,” Ashworth said. Nancy Snowden, another parent, told council members the closure had “ripped away” a community support system and urged the council to ensure the city “deploy all resources at your disposal to help with their remediation efforts.”

City updates during the meeting said staff had reported a significant sewer pipe failure along Liberty Grove Road and that pumps were diverting flow while a contractor worked to replace failing infrastructure. In the council’s earlier management update, Councilmember John Bowers III said the failure caused more than one sinkhole and was affecting traffic flow as crews worked on repairs.

No formal council action on drainage or a Primrose assistance package was taken at the June 17 meeting. Council members did not adopt a specific remedy then; speakers asked the council and city staff to return with proposals and timetables. Several speakers said they intended to follow up with staff and elected officials.

The public‑comment speakers on June 17 represented homeowners and parents directly affected by the floods and the ensuing service disruptions. Residents asked the council for engineering reviews of Scott Drive drainage, clearer communication about repairs, and expedited permitting and assistance for Primrose to reopen.

For now, city staff are continuing repairs on the Liberty Grove sewer main, and the council asked staff to gather follow‑up information. Residents said they will return to future meetings if they do not see timely progress.