City of Diamondhead planning drainage and erosion project
A nearly $4 million drainage project is about to begin in Diamondhead. The city says the work will protect homes and yards by deepening Duck Pond and stabilizing an eroding drainage ditch.
Jakira Hunt with the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center explains what the project could mean for nearby homeowners.
Greg Cullom has lived near one of Diamondhead’s drainage ditches for more than 20 years. In 2021, his home flooded for the first time during Tropical Storm Claudette. “We flash flooded from that event in June of 2021, so we had to go through the process of mitigating all that flood damage in our home during that time.”
Since then, Diamondhead deepened a nearby pond. Cullom believes that work kept water out of his backyard during heavy rain this summer. “I was concerned about it, but my wife, she assured me, she said, ‘We didn’t even have water come up in the backyard.'”
Now, the city is preparing to deepen Duck Pond and stabilize an eroding ditch near Kalipekona Way. City Manager Jon McCraw says erosion has already threatened residents’ yards. “When a resident’s property is falling in, and he’s losing his backyard we really feel like, as a city, we’ve got to do something.”
The project is being funded with $2 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and a $2 million match from Hancock County’s share of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act funding.
But the work will require access behind some nearby homes.
Scott Wallace says he signed an access agreement but did not initially understand how much of his yard could be affected. “I signed it right away, not thinking it was going to be anything more. And then I was told that I was going to lose that good chunk of property.”
Cullom says some homeowners will be affected more than others, but he believes the improvements are necessary. “This new project that they’ve got going with the drainage ditch will ultimately solve that problem.”
The city says construction will begin after Cruisin’ the Coast passes through in October. The project is expected to finish in February 2027.
