CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Despite the preparations made by the City of Corpus Christi for the arrival of Category 1 Hurricane Hanna this past weekend, the North Beach area still was subject to high-rising floodwaters.
The predictable flooding underscores nearby residents' and businesses' continued yearning for a long-term solution.
“If this was in front of a certain official's house, I guarantee this would be fixed by now,” said Yo Philly Cheesesteak and Subs owner Nick Catalano, who also owns a couple of nearby buildings. “I’ve got people over there that can’t even get into their houses because of this water. It’s just — it’s a normal occurrence on North Beach here.”
While previous reports state the project for the North Beach Navigable Canal Project was green-lit last December, a 6-month-study to see whether or not it would prove effective was approved by city councilors earlier, Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni said.
“There’s been some preliminary concepts of what the canal would be, but there’s no firm, ‘This is it,’ ” Zanoni said.
Earlier last year, Zanoni said there were also early concepts of the construction of a seawall, similar to the one on Downtown's Bayfront.
For North Beach's future, most of the city’s attention remains on the canal project.
“This solution is one that’s going to take time, and it’s going to take a lot of money as well,” he said. “Right now, the city council, after working with persons on North Beach and developers, they’re focused on — Is this canal gonna be the solution or not? — and that’s what we’re gonna find out in the next six months. We’ll know by December.”
