INDIANAPOLIS — Cardis Morton has been frustrated for eight years.
He said his front yard is washing away, and he's asking the city to help. More and more, Morton is worried about what's missing from his front yard and what's being left behind as a result.
Every time it rains, he said, his yard fills up with water because it has nowhere to go and no way to get there.
"There's no place for the water to go," he said.
For eight years, Morton has dealt with flooding in his front yard.
"You can see how the roads comes downhill, but there's no drainage," he said.
The result is that rain pools and washes away his yard, and he's worried the problem could get worse.
"Grass won't grow there," Morton said. "It's killing my tree because it's gonna get root rot."
A spokesman from the Indianapolis Department of Public Works confirmed the lack of storm water infrastructure in front of Morton's home on Cold Spring Road, something that can be seen on the city's online Map Indy tool.
"The road tilts. There's no drainage, so all the water from the road when it tilts the water comes this way," he said.
Morton sometimes sees ducks floating along in the water in his yard, and the standing water provides an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
There is a storm drain less than a block from Morton's home, but there's no way for the water to get there. He estimated it's about 40 yards from the drain to his house.
A spokesman for DPW said drainage in front of Morton's home is considered average priority.
"When DPW has funding for a project of this priority level, we intend to pursue a capital improvement project to address drainage issues in the public right-of-way at this location," the spokesman said in a statement.
The DPW spokesman said the agency looks at how many people are affected by a drainage issue and if additional drainage would remove water from roadways. He said there's no way to predict when a fix might come.
And after eight years of trouble, it only adds to Morton's frustration.
"You love the city. You support the city, but their priority is wrong," he said.
