MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Big Muddy” is supposed to refer to the Mississippi River, but William Marmon says it’s also a good way to describe his street when it rains. “It’s a deluge,” he said.
Five straight days of rain are forecast starting Tuesday and Marmon predicts that Mickey Drive in Whitehaven will once again become a river.
Water frequently streams down hillsides and deposits mud in the street and in driveways, neighbors say.
“If it’s a constant rain, if it’s heavy, then it’s gonna be a problem. You see both driveways water running from this driveway right here and from this driveway all the way across the street,” Marmon said.
It’s far from the only trouble spot in Memphis.
On New Year’s Eve 2018, a downpour flooded a section of Gordon Street in the Heights area.
The flood-prone College and Trigg intersection in South Memphis was left underwater in August 2017 and flooding sometimes shuts down the underpass at Southern and Josephine in Orange Mound.
For 26 years, Marmon has seen the same problems with mud and water on his street and he’s hoping it will be cleaned up once and for all.
“It may be economically unfeasible for, at the time, but they need to do something. It would help us out.”