Action 9

Action 9: Charlotte man urges state to fix drainage problem after car ends up submerged

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clyde Hooks lives along Plaza Road Extension.

"The problem is we're not getting enough drainage.  There's a severe drainage problem here," he told Action 9.  "It just backs up and it's two or three weeks before it subsides."

And that can cause problems.

"[A] year ago, we had a car, had a storm one evening, the car went off into this area here and it's about six foot at the lowest point and the gentleman had to climb out and swim out," he said.  "The car was completely submerged."

It was a real wake-up call.  "What if it had been a child in the car?" Hooks said.

Hooks blames water runoff from a fairly new shopping center and the road itself.  So he told NCDOT.

"The person that came out, he said, 'It is a problem, it's our problem, and just give me time to resolve the problem.'"

But, Hooks says, that was two years ago and nothing seemed to be getting done since then.  So he turned to Action 9.

"I wasn't getting nowhere, honestly, until Action 9 contacted the state," he said.

DOT said it's a pipe issue and now has a detailed plan to address it.  DOT also gave Hooks a timeframe: the last week of March or first week of April.