There’s plenty at stake in Dominion Ranch, so we understand collisions in viewpoints and displays of raw emotions.

Residents fled their homes last August as Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey unleashed floods unheard of since Noah in Genesis.

Think of how unnatural that is: Fleeing your home, which is supposed to be your refuge in the storm. Think of the fear and urgency involved in collecting precious keepsakes, clutching valuables, while shepherding your family to safety.

Think of the distress involved in watching everything in which you’ve invested disappear beneath the rising waters. There was no ark for flight, no Mount Ararat for refuge.

Consider that, for those who lived there, Dominion Ranch was a neighborhood of fashionable, single-family, brick residences, close to shopping and far from Port Arthur’s and Jefferson County’s trouble spots. Homeowners paid dearly for their properties and believed them to be secure castles.

Until, beneath dark skies and pounding rain, Dominion Ranch became its own trouble spot.

Small wonder, then, that developer Cormier Homes and Port Arthur District 4 Councilman Harold Doucet Sr. have been catching an earful from critics in Dominion Ranch. Neighbors say the contractor has been remiss in adhering to city ordinances, that sloppy cleanup has hindered drainage in the area and exacerbated flooding. Cormier Homes says that’s not so.

Consider the company’s investment risks, though: Who will buy homes in Dominion Ranch if the area continues to flood? So there’s plenty at stake for them, too.

Doucet has come under fire for the city of Port Arthur’s uneven response to Dominion Ranch’s flooding issues, which have remained long after Harvey left. Dominion Ranch people believe they’ve been largely ignored since their troubles began. They say city officials don’t return their calls and emails, that they are met with indifference when they seek help. If that is not true, it surely seems to feel true to them.

What’s true, too — and what’s apparent to anyone who has watched Doucet’s public dealings with Dominion Ranch residents — is that he appears cold to their concerns, needs and troubles. If he cares about the people in Dominion Ranch, it does not show.

When he finally made his way to Dominion Ranch last week, meeting with some neighbors there, he offered observations and insights that may be valid. He’s a smart man. What he did not offer was warmth or sympathy or kindness. He is their councilman, but do they feel like they are his people?

The August storm laid waste to Greater Port Arthur. Homes are gutted, streets corrugated, damages run deep. But the storm laid waste to some relationships, too, exposing a wide gulf between this council and some hard-pressed constituents.

For citizens, the time has come to seek help elsewhere.