Public works: Duncan Channel floodgates being replaced; gates damaged in 2019–2020, repairs months away

City of Wichita Falls public works officials told the council on May 6 that floodgates at the end of the Duncan Channel — a primary drainage route for the East Side — were damaged in a storm event between 2019 and 2020 and are currently being replaced.

Why it matters: Residents described past flooding that trapped neighbors and raised questions about access, evacuation plans and sheltering. Staff said the gates help protect roadways but, when closed, require bypass pumping to avoid trapping storm runoff inside the neighborhood.

What staff said about the gates and the repair timeline

Russell Shriver, director of public works, told the council: "There are a set of floodgates there ... They became damaged in a storm event in somewhere between 02/2019 and 2020. The city then put a project to get it to replace those gates. That project is under construction now." Shriver said the contractor required almost a year to get the prefabricated gates built and delivered and that completion depends heavily on weather; he estimated,…