Brittany Woods, Eastover Asking for City to Create New Access

During last week’s deluge when 13 inches of rain fell in Oxford over 36 hours, Brittany Woods, Brittany Estates and Eastover Apartments had 7 inches of water on their roads, blocking the only access in and out of the neighborhoods for several hours.

“We saw streets washed away, trees uprooted, properties damaged and neighborhoods like Brittany Woods, Brittany Estates and Eastover become unreachable with accesses blocked,” said Alderman Kesha Howell-Atkinson Tuesday during the Board of Aldermen meeting. “Many areas of our city suffered the same fate with flooded streets. But these communities were uniquely affected because their only entrance and exits were impassible or too dangerous to cross.”

The residents of those three neighborhoods have started a petition, garnering more than 100 signatures thus far, asking the Oxford Board of Aldermen to create another connection in and out of the neighborhoods.

“An emergency is bound to happen in one of these communities … and right now, we have ill-equipped them with the inability to sustain should one occur,” Howell-Atkinson said. “These conditions leave these communities vulnerable and at a higher risk of catastrophe.”

Howell-Atkinson said that fixing the infrastructure in these neighborhoods to help prevent future flooding should be a priority as well.

“But that will only fix half of the problem,” she said.

No action was taken by the board.