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Residents urge Bladen County to fix persistent drainage problems in Richardson; commissioners say they will follow up
Summary
Residents from Richardson told the board that ditches have been left unmaintained since 2021, that pipes laid that year were never connected, and that repeated flooding has forced multiple home replacements; commissioners said they will contact N.C. Department of Transportation and follow up with county staff.
Judy Hester and her daughter, Kenya Plotnick, told Bladen County commissioners that a longstanding drainage problem near North Business 211 in the Richardson area is again flooding yards and homes after heavy rains.
“I just recently built my home, and I just recently moved back in there. And I have a major major flood problem,” Hester said, adding that earlier work in 2021 left pipes in a ditch that were not connected and that no additional work was completed. Her daughter said the house Hester now occupies is the family’s third home after repeated flooding, mold and damage.
“This is my mom's third home... her first 2 homes were replaced because they were flooded,” Kenya Plotnick said, describing multiple households that have had homes rebuilt because of flooding. The speakers said they had previously met county officials in 2021, that equipment and crews appeared at the time but work stalled, and that the ditch and pipe pieces now are overgrown.
Hester also asked how Bladen County used Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, saying the county had received “$17,700,000 between 2010 and 2025,” and asking who is advocating for Richardson residents. She said the homes are not in a federal flood area, a claim she said she had checked.
Commissioners and staff acknowledged the complaints and discussed next steps. One commissioner said the county would contact the N.C. Department of Transportation and follow up in the coming days: “I'll get with DOT ... we'll be out there in the next couple of days,” a commissioner said. Staff also noted that some ditch clearing has occurred in other areas and that three ditches on the agenda were planned for cleaning in other parts of the county.
No formal county action to fund work at Richardson was recorded at the meeting; commissioners instructed staff to follow up with DOT and county departments and to review past work orders and the use of federal CDBG funding for local drainage projects.
Next steps: county staff and commissioners said they would contact NCDOT and investigate prior 2021 work orders, clarify what (if any) CDBG funding was allocated to the area, and report back to the board or the residents; no timetable was given.
