From rain barrels to sea walls, people who live in Turner Station had their first look this week at proposals to protect their community from flooding.
Residents in the historically Black community in Eastern Baltimore County say they have been ignored for decades and now is the time to turn concepts into reality.
Standing in front of a map that detailed where flooding is prone to happen in Turner Station, former resident Chris Barnes told engineer Julie Hess what life is like on the ground.
“This has been an ongoing issue for years,” Barnes said. “It’s damaged people’s property, cars, homes. It draws bugs, insects, rats, mice. You know they love that stuff. Snakes.”
Renee Scott pointed to her house on a map.
“We live right here,” Scott said. “This is our house right here. When it rains we’re in the flood.”
Turner Station residents contend that while other communities have received help with flooding, they have been ignored. Linwood Jackson said officials need to listen to what people in the community are saying.
Jackson said, “I think that sometimes when people believe they’re not being heard they just said, ‘later for it.’”
With a $500,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Baltimore County hired the engineering firm RK&K to come up with ways to fight the flooding and share the ideas with the community.
Beth Denaburg, the public information officer for the Baltimore County Public Works and Transportation Department said there are the little things that are relatively quick, cheap and easy.
“If we could get everyone a rain barrel and a rain garden and slow down the water when it is falling, that would be huge,” Denaburg said.
But that’s not enough for the big storms. For that you need projects that will cost millions like bigger underground pipes, pumping stations and sea walls.
Greg Strella, the county’s chief sustainability officer, said the problem with those big ticket projects is they can be hard just to get started.
Strella said, “What we’re trying to do is actually weave together an approach that has layers, where we can take immediate action because there’s an urgent need to mitigate whatever flooding we can today at the same time that we’re planning that, in a phased way that leads to these larger infrastructure investments that help solve the problem multi-generationally.”
One of the maps on display at the Sollers Point Multipurpose Center in Turner Station showed the flooding that happened on January 9, 2024. Several pictures that resident Olivia Lomax took that night were tacked on.
“I remember that night,” Lomax said. “My husband thought I was crazy running out in the rain. I told him I’ve got to get them pictures. He didn’t mind riding around. He had a big truck but we did almost get stuck.”
Jessica Kreuger with the engineering firm RK&K said that the January 2024 storm was different from some of the others, with not as much rain but a higher tide.
“Just showing the community that there is both a tidal influence from these storms and then also some rainfall influence from where all the flooding can occur,” Kreuger said.
Beth Denaburg with public works said what’s happening in Turner Station is not unique. Other coastal communities are dealing with flooding caused by development, aging infrastructure and climate change. She said they are looking for a roadmap for Turner Station.
Denaburg said, “We’re trying to find what projects are like, ooh if we do this project it hits three birds with one stone. Ok, that one’s worth pursuing. We’ll try to get funding for it.”
Gloria Nelson, the president of the Turner Station Conservation Teams, said they need action.
Nelson said, “We have come a long ways. I’m happy about that. But I would be even more happier with projects in the ground.”
County officials said their next step is to finalize a plan then start raising money to try to make it happen for Turner Station.
