Despite the noise of heavy machinery in the area, people who live near Stuart Place and Wilson Road are excited for what's coming.

"I woke up and the machinery is here, and I just couldn't be happier,” Harlingen resident Wendy Velasquez said. “I almost cried because I don’t want to flood again."

Velasquez moved into the neighborhood off Los Ranchitos in 2017. Since then, her home has flooded twice. Once in 2019, and again during the March 2025 floods, where five inches of water crept into her home.

Velasquez said she believes improvements to the canal in her neighborhood will make a difference.

Cameron County Drainage District #5 is overseeing the project. General manager Rolando Vela said the improvements are part of an ongoing maintenance project that has crews clearing the canal and increasing its size.

“We're looking at all the channels we have, we want to widen them,” Vela said. “We want to make them as deep as we can."

The project is similar to one that was done to the Stuart Place Main Drain over the summer. That drain is responsible for catching water from Harlingen, Primera, Combes and Palm Valley.

“It's imperative that we maintain our system, upgrade it, make improvements so when we get major rains, we're able to move the water downstream into the Arroyo," Vela said.

According to Vela, there are 70 miles of drainage channels within the district, and crews plan to make improvements across the board.

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