BEE COUNTY, Texas — Resident’s in one small community in Bee County said that when it floods like it did Wednesday, they can’t drive in and out of their neighborhood.
"A bridge needs to be put here," Marlena Garcia, a Papalote Resident said. "We have been asking for a bridge for years. Nothing is happening."
Garcia moved to the Papalote area a few years ago to enjoy country living. But after all the rain that has now fallen here -- that lifestyle is all wet. So much water has fallen that Silver Creek Road flooded out just as it has done for the past 25 years.
One of her biggest worries is that ambulance crews would be delayed in getting to her elderly mother if something were to happen.
"I have an 87-year-old mother, who lives with me, who has medical conditions, along with other neighbors who are also elderly," she said. "We have no way to get out of here."
Papalote is a small community in Bee County and is halfway between Sinton and Skidmore. It sits off of Highway 181 along Papalote Creek. Around 10 families live on the other side of the creek and that’s bad news when it floods.
Right now, the only way in and out for those folks is a footbridge.
"Somebody’s house catching on fire or a medical emergency and nobody can get here to get to us," George Gilchrist, a Papalote resident said.
Linda Clevenger has lived here a long time and thinks it’s finally time to get that bridge built over these troubling waters.
"There’s three of us from the fire department and EMS that live on the other side," Clevenger said. "Yesterday, we were paged out for a 1050 at 6 o’clock in the morning and we couldn’t get out.”
One county official said that for at least the past 10 years, the county has tried to come up with the money to build a bridge and is continuing to try and find the dollars to get those neighbors the lifeline they need during a flood event.
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