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Residents of Philadelphia’s Eastwick section are facing another setback in the city’s efforts to prevent dangerous flooding in the neighborhood.
City officials announced a plan in 2024 to use federal funding to install HESCO-style flood barriers, giant fabric and wire boxes filled with soil, to prevent rising water in Cobbs Creek from reaching homes in the neighborhood. But modelling revealed that this solution could push floodwaters into neighboring Delaware County, city officials told residents last month.
“I’m just the bearer of bad news today,” Korin Tangtrakul, senior manager for place-based initiatives in the Office of Sustainability, said during a virtual town hall in September. She said the project is delayed because the city has “gotten a little stuck” in the design phase.
“This creek is so tight that anything that we’re putting into place is causing induced flooding elsewhere,” she said.
Eastwick resident Brenda Whitfield traveled to New York City to see HESCO barriers implemented there. She said she hopes Philadelphia builds them in her neighborhood.
Whitfield said it’s unfair to Eastwick residents at risk of devastating floods that a smaller amount of induced flooding in Delaware County would stop the project.
Whitfield’s home has flooded three times in the more than 50 years she’s lived in the neighborhood.
“We need hope in Eastwick,” Whitfield said. “We need those barriers to protect our backdoor.”
Tangtrakul said the city is investigating whether a lower barrier height than originally planned could minimize the induced flooding. But a lower barrier would provide less protection for Eastwick residents.
