BYRON, Ga. — Several people in a Byron neighborhood say they've been fighting flooding and draining problems for years.
The neighbors of the Manchester Place subdivision say they've been going back and forth with the city, the county and the neighborhood's home owner's association for years to get the issue resolved.
Upon arriving at the neighborhood, Shirley Strickland stopped 13WMAZ as they were shooting video and asked us to take a look at her backyard.
"This happens every time there's heavy rain?" we asked.
Strickland responded, "Mhm!"
She never built a pond, but she says it becomes a lake out there when it pours.
"And that's not the half of it," she said, motioning to the edge of her yard where wood boards were on the ground.
"It took out my fence!" Strickland exclaimed.
Water overflowing from a field behind her home caused her fence to fall apart, making way for more water to come, which causes it to flood all around her home.
Tracie Smith-Richardson initially reached out because she says she feels ignored by the city.
A lot of her neighbors feel the same way, she said.
"We get letters and everything from the city that basically says, 'Oh we're working on it and we're gonna get this resolved,'" Smith-Richardson said.
That letter, from the engineering company working with the city said: "Due to the complexity of the project, the progression of negotiations is multi-layered and unfortunately slows the process; however, we are working toward a solution in the near future that will reduce the likelihood of future flooding in the area."
It was sent to neighbors in July.
On Tuesday, it was hard to see what's changed since.
Smith-Richardson lives at the bottom of the bend of her street with her family.
Because it slopes downhill toward their home, that's where most of the water gathers.
She says it's nearly impossible to get in or out safely on foot or wheels.
That concerns Smith-Richardson because they, and several other kids in the neighborhood, are dropped off by the school bus right by their home.
Peach County Schools did not close for severe weather.
As a result, Smith-Richardson asked her son to pick her grandkids up from school in the middle of the day.
When her son returned, the car was almost completely submerged in the flood water in front of their driveway.
In the middle of our interview, a United States Postal Service vehicle attempted to make its way toward homes to deliver mail on Amber Drive.
However, due to the standing water, it had to make a U-turn in the middle of the road to make its way back safely to higher side of the road.
"She can't even deliver our mail!" Smith-Richardson exclaimed.
"You know it's bad when the mailman can't do it," her neighbor chimed in.
"I know it's a lot of water, and a lot of rain, and they can't take on so much at one time," Strickland said.
However, several folks say they're fed up.
"It's just a lot of promises, like they're over-promising but they're truly under delivering," Smith-Richardson said. "I want them to take action. I want them to help save us, because, what if it was one of them that was living in this area? Would they be on top of it quicker? I don't know."
13WMAZ reached out to Byron's Public Works Department; they said they were backed up with service calls and couldn't discuss the flooding issues at the Manchester Place subdivision.
13WMAZ also reached out to Mayor Michael Chidester's office multiple times, but we did not hear back.