A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday in Cameron County for a new pump station in the Tio Cano Lake area.

Three massive water pumps will be station at the new pump station in Cameron County once construction is complete. 

Plans for the project were pushed forward after back-to-back flooding events in 2018 and 2019. 

"It was devastating," La Feria resident Carmen Rivera said. "So many things were lost, especially photos we cherished from our childhood."

Rivera and her family live on North Kansas City Road and were severely impacted by the flooding in 2019. She said the damage was too much to repair amid the pandemic. 

"It just took a lot out of us, because you know, and it was during Covid, so it was even harder, and we kept coming back and forth to our house," Rivera said. "It was very hard."

"That was just catastrophic flooding," Cameron County Drainage District Number 6 Board of Directors President Laura Haley said. "I heard that the fire chief, the fire chief here, he said he worked 21 days in this area just rescuing people, and their belongings, just pulling them out of Tio Cano."

Tio Cano Lake is a natural depression in northern Cameron County, an area where there is no natural outfall.

Previously, the county would have to use portable pumps during flooding events, but through the creation of the Drainage District Number 6 and with the help of Cameron County leaders, flood relief is on the way. 

"When the time comes, we're going to have the ability to have water moved out at a faster rate," Cameron County Precinct 4 Commissioner Gus Ruiz said. "Which is going to bring resilience to the people here in the Tio Cano Lake area and the surrounding community as a matter of fact."

The $1.7 million project is being paid for in part with funding from the America Rescue Act, bond money is also being used.

Work on the project is set to officially begin in the next 30 to 60 days.

The project is estimated to be finished by early 2023.