The city says flood mitigation efforts wouldn't provide a permanent fix for Choctaw Road area.

Choctaw Road homeowners say they can't afford to move and nobody will buy their homes.

Buying and demolishing homes and creating a no-build zone might be best option.

The cost of such an effort is unknown; FEMA , city assistance would be required.

Scott Crawford, who uses a wheelchair, looks out the front door of his home on Choctaw Road every time it rains.

Even a light rain, normally a soothing sound, provides the opposite of comfort.

When it comes down in heavy bursts, Crawford faces the same situation whether he is at his home in Jackson's Fondren neighborhood or not. He’s trapped.

So are his neighbors.

Now, they are looking for federal relief to relocate. It's the only option left, they say.

Like many others, they live in flood-prone areas in the city of Jackson.

"With other people, they listen to the rain and they think it's calming, it's pretty," Crawford's neighbor, Bill Wilson, said. "But with us, it's 'Am I going to lose my house, is my neighborhood going to be destroyed? Can I get back home? Can I even get out?'

"You get a sick to your stomach feeling every time it rains. Because you just don't know," Wilson said.

Flooded 3 times in less than 12 days

With an exceptionally wet January, Crawford and his neighbors have been flooded out three times in less than 12 days.

So far, 12.87 inches of rain have fallen on the capital city in January, already the second highest amount for the month in more than 100 years, according to the National Weather Service.

And with 13% of the city designated as in a floodplain, that means the new year has been a very wet one for Crawford and many others.

Besides the Choctaw Road residents, other areas of the city have experienced chronic flooding issues.

The most recent flooding on Jan. 14 required first responders to use swift water and high-water vehicles to rescue residents at the Camelot Apartments in west Jackson. Residents in other neighborhoods, including Presidential Hills, have also required rescuing.

Other areas of the city, such as the Casa Grande neighborhood, and neighborhoods in Belhaven, especially along creeks, also experience frequent flooding. Backwater flooding from a near-historic rise in the Pearl River has added to the water flow in recent days.

Commercial development a factor

In some cases on Choctaw Road, the water has risen as high as Wilson's picket fence — about 3 feet.

It seems the water comes from every direction.

During heavy rainfalls, Eubanks Creek quickly fills up and jumps the bridges to the west and east, spilling over into yards. The bridges are too small and the creek too narrow and not deep enough to contain the water flow.

Adding to the flooding issues, most of Choctaw Road is in a soup bowl. In recent years, it has become surrounded by commercial development, such as a CVS Pharmacy with concrete parking lots, leaving less area for the water to saturate into the ground.

It also means the normal runoff for rainwater collects where the street dips.

Why would you live there?

Crawford raises the questions before it is asked.

"People are going to ask why do you live there?" he said.

In between flooding events, there's little indication the area is flood-prone. The water in the creek behind homes is a trickle. There are no pools of water collected next to the curb.

Crawford notes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which determines flood elevation levels, wasn't in existence when his home and those of his neighbors were built. Crawford said his house was built in 1941. He said he was never advised of the chronic flooding issues when he moved in about 15 years ago.

Rather, he found a nearby grocery store and a bus stop at the end of the street as perfect for this mobility needs. Ironically, he said he moved to Jackson from Miami because he was concerned with coastline flooding.

"You've got to understand. To me, walkability is my independence. That's one of the key reasons I chose where I live," he said.

Wilson provides another perspective.

"Sometimes, people don't have a choice. They live where they have a place to live," said Wilson, who has been in his home for 25 years.

Frequent flooding, frequent problems

Crawford and Wilson say they've spent tens of thousands of dollars replacing destroyed property from frequent flooding.

Both have lost multiple vehicles to the floodwaters. One of them was Crawford's main source for transportation, his $29,000 specialized wheelchair mobility van, which was flooded in his driveway after a heavy rainfall on Aug. 12, 2018.

Without it, Crawford, who prides himself on self-sufficiency, now travels via JATRAN, the city's public transportation network.

Wilson, who says he has already lost three vehicles to flooding, had his driveway elevated to prevent another loss.

"If I hadn't done that, I would be losing a car every six months," he said.

Multiple floods over time have caused Wilson's garage to crumble to the ground from swift-moving water and the objects it picks up — such as a metal door. The rapidly flowing water turns the objects into battering rams on the retaining wall of the creek and structures in nearby yards.

The water also picks up litter as it travels to the area of least resistance, depositing used condoms, syringes and plastic refuse in the yards and creek bed.

The overflow also forces surface sewage out of flooded manholes, which then mixes in with the water. Some of it drains into the basement of Colibri Jenkin's home, directly to the west of Crawford's home.

"This is a reoccurring problem that isn't just irritating, it's also a safety issue. I have to make sure my home is disinfected before my let my child back in," Jenkins said.

Can't get out, can't get home

Besides being trapped in their homes, once the flooding occurs, it's impossible for residents to make it back home.

That happened during the last major rainfall. The city had shut down public transportation, leaving Crawford stranded at a city office building.

He watched the waters rise from surveillance video he has connected to his cellphone. It showed the wheelchair ramp that leads to the front door of his home consumed by a rising tide of floodwater.

"I just can't describe how helpless you feel. When you're home, you're trapped. But even when you're not home, you're trapped," he said.

Jenkins wasn't at home during that flooding, either. She parked at the CVS not far away and opted to tread through the floodwater to get to her home, something she doesn't advise.

When she returned home, her basement was again flooded with furniture floating on top of the dirty water.

No-build areas: Buy, demolish homes

As the city's chief engineer, Charles Williams is well aware of the problem flooding causes for residents.

However, he said Choctaw Road is an especially hard case, because even flood mitigation efforts there wouldn't resolve the flooding problem, and widening the creek would be impossible since it would extend "to the doorsteps" of homes.

The area is officially in a floodway, an even lower elevation than a floodplain, according to FEMA. This makes most fixes temporary or not comprehensive enough to resolve all flooding issues.

Instead, Williams agrees the best option appears to be to look at possible federal and municipal options to purchase the properties outright and then demolish the vacated homes. He is consulting with the city's constituency services department to determine just how many homes in Jackson fall under the federal guidelines for Federal Emergency Management Agency's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

"One of the things I think the most logical solution for all parties is to look at federal assistance, relocate them, then do an improvement to the area, make it a no-build area," Williams said.

Jackson City Council President Virgi Lindsay, whose Ward 7 includes Choctaw Road, is also on board. She said she has talked with Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba about the reoccurring issue, concerned about resident safety.

"It has become a fearful thing. I have talked to the mayor, and I've suggested that let’s talk to MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) and see what dollars might be available. We will never be able to completely alleviate the possibility of flooding in a floodway. Now, we're trying to find every possible pot of money to help," she said.

They will have to eventually consult with Ricky Moore, the Hinds County Emergency Management director. Moore said his office would help with the grant process and officials with MEMA likely also would.

"We haven't been approached, but If they show interest, Hinds County is on board," he said.

City match could be a hard sell

The catch? A grant would still require a city match. That's a hard sell no matter what Jackson's share would be given the city's estimated $2 billion infrastructure needs across the city.

The number of homes in the floodway in the Choctaw Road area is yet undetermined, as is the amount of money that might be required to purchase homes.

Crawford, Wilson and fellow neighbors dealing with a chronic flooding problem on Choctaw Road see such an approach as the only option left.

Moving on their own isn't a possibility.

They can't save up money because they have to constantly repair property damaged by flooding and pay the high cost of flood insurance.

"People say why don't you move?" Wilson said.

"Well, that's really a nice thought but when you've lost a $30,000 vehicle where are you going to come up with a down payment? Every time I'd lose a vehicle, I'd have to buy another one and I've lost three already."

And, Crawford raises another point.

"Who's going to buy the house?" he asks.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated since first published to change Choctaw Drive to Choctaw Road.

Contact Justin Vicory at 769-572-1418 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow @justinvicory on Twitter.