BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"What we've learned is, the drainage there, it gets covered up by grass and debris and whatnot, and so it won't allow the water to flow, leading to the backup and then the flooding," said Chief Scott Holt with Lorena Police Department.
Many Central Texans were impacted by flooding on I-35 southbound Tuesday morning.
Police responded to a call regarding the flooding at 9:20 a.m. — when they arrived on the scene, all three lanes were underwater.
They immediately reached out to Texas Department of Transportation for help clearing the lanes.
They helped traffic flow using the far-left lane with the least severe flooding, but as rain continued, the flooding only got worse.
With the help of TxDOT and the fire department, they made the decision to close the road and divert traffic to the access road.
"That becomes problematic, because now you have three lanes of travel that typically go on Interstate 35, now they're all on one road running through town," Holt said.
The nine units that responded to the call scattered around town to help manage traffic flow.
Police say the flooding has happened two or three times this year.
25 News reached out to TxDOT to see what they are doing to fix the flooding issues.
They responded in the following statement:
"TxDOT crews immediately mobilized, cleaning the grass and debris in the affected drain. Traffic was moving shortly after clean up. TxDOT is exploring potential modifications to the existing drains,” said TxDOT Public Information Officer, Jake Smith.
Local police are advising Central Texans to always be cautious of rising water.
"TxDOT has been very responsive and we're coordinating with them to find a long-term solution to the drainage in that area," Holt said.
