One former Port Arthur city councilman wanted to know why the city flooded so badly from Tropical Storm Harvey.

John Beard, consequently, did his own study on drainage considerations and presented his findings at the regular meeting of the Port Arthur City Council on Oct. 10.

“I have a very clear idea what happened and why and steps we can take to prevent it,” Beard said.

He then presented a PowerPoint map from the Jefferson County Drainage District 7 of various canals that run through the area and the levees on the outskirts. He described Port Arthur as lying in a bowl surrounded by levees.

Floodgates open at the canal that runs through FM 365.

“That entire area was nothing but water,” he said. Historically, it has flooded three times since 1961 (from hurricanes and rain events). The Alligator Bayou Pump Station was set up to help that area. There is a problem.”

Beard said water was cascading over West Port Arthur Road so it resembled a river.

Palamor, Lakeside, El Vista additions, etc. were inundated by water.

A canal that runs under a railroad overpass perpendicular to West Port Arthur Road eroded. Main Canal C that runs under Jimmy Johnson Boulevard to Ninth Avenue to Highway 347 to Saba Lane on to the refineries was flooded.

“Everything drained into that one point,” Beard said. “It overflowed El Vista, Montrose, Lakeside. It was overloaded and did not drain. The West Port Arthur Road tracks were undermined. Water was coming from underneath the railroad tracks.”

Beard said while he was serving on the council the city purchased five military fuel tankers after Hurricane Rita that were housed at the Highway 73 Operations Center. He believes those fuel tankers could had been placed at the pump stations to refuel and keep the pumps going.

Because of flooding from Harvey, the pumps experienced cavitation in which excess water being pumped in cause them to spin faster and faster. They were overloaded and used more fuel.

“Unfortunately this information was not communicated. What do we do?” he asked.

Beard said while the levees protect against storm surge, the large amount of rain received in the “bowl” filled up.

“Our pumps held up until that night (Aug. 29) until inadequacies in the system,” he said. “I request the city of Port Arthur, Drainage District 7, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jefferson County Precinct 3 Commissioners Michael “Shane” Sinegal’s office, academic and flood experts form a task force to prevent the flooding and focus on surge protections.”

He added that the Texas Water Development Board has developed the state’s first flood plan. Beard believes a special tax on industry could finance the infrastructure improvements. This could be on the list to present to the 2019 Texas Legislature.

“This is an opportunity to seize to make the city better. The phoenix in mythology had to die to be reborn. This is an opportunity for the city to be reborn and avoid another catastrophe,” Beard said.

Mayor Derrick Freeman said the city got baptized.

Willie “Bae” Lewis Jr., District 5 councilman, agreed the fuel tankers should had been placed at the pump stations.

“In June, we should had sat down with emergency management and rehearsed everything we know what to do. There was a lot that was missing.”