KINGWOOD, Texas – Hundreds of residents attended Thursday night's Kingwood town hall meeting.
The crowd was anxious to hear what the city of Houston was doing to protect their homes from flooding.
One of the biggest concerns was the Elm Groves neighborhood.
"My residents are about one more rainstorm from being homeless," one attendee said.
Homeowners said their homes flooded twice this year. Once in May and a second time in September during Imelda.
"A lot of people have started to rebuild, drying Sheetrock things like that. We are waiting until after hurricane season just for peace of mind," resident James Pettus said.
The issue, according to residents, is the discharge of stormwater from the Woodridge Village development site, which also brings in sand, sediment and debris.
“We’ve lived here 16 years, raised our kids here. It’s emotional. We planned on staying here for the long term,” said homeowner Edythe Cogdill.
The city of Houston acknowledged the problem and issued a cease and desist order against Perry Homes, Double Oak Construction Inc. and Figure Four Partners Ltd. on Oct. 2.
They also began a 12-week investigation into the storm water system.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city and developers have been in communication and have to an agreement to address some of the issues before they continue working again.
"There are seven things in terms of putting retention, putting in the swales and then taking whatever additional steps to ensure their development is not going to impact communities neighborhoods and roads," said Turner.
KPRC contacted Perry Homes and obtained this statement:
“First and foremost, our hearts go out to all those affected by the rain events of May 7 and Tropical Storm Imelda. Perry Homes and its subsidiaries take great pride in the excellent reputation we have earned over the past 50-plus years providing first class services and impeccable homes.
"We care deeply about our customers and the communities we serve. As we have said since the May 7th rain event, we and the highly regarded engineers working on this development will continue to research the events that led to this situation and make our findings public at such time as they are available.”