How a Flooded House Lot Became a Basketball Court

Natural disasters are terrible, but with every disaster, there are good things that can eventually come out of them. After the 2006 monsoon rain in El Paso, there was extensive damage, but there was also positive changes that happened, such as El Pasoans' coming together, blossoms in the desert mountains.. and on the west side of town, there were the Festival Avenue house lots that turned into basketball courts.

Blossoms in the Desert

It's truly amazing how the plants in the Southwest Desert can suddenly spring forward with various colors after just one good rainfall. And not only green, but various colors from plants such as Creosote Bush, Common purslane, Ocotillo, Prickly pear, Chiltepin (official State Native Pepper of Texas), and a host of weed plants that produce yellow, red, and purple blossoms.

After the rain subsided, there was color and splendor to behold, but there were also some big changes to come. From July to September 2006, the El Paso International Airport measured 15.01" inches of rain. During that time, a few houses along Festival Drive in West El Paso didn't make it through the worst part of that rainy monsoon season, as the houses were flooded beyond repair and were subsequently torn down and replaced with a small recreational park.

“ It was crazy then. The arroyo in the back, the ditch in the back probably had about 6' or 7' feet of water and it sounded like a raging river. It was crazy!”

..West side resident Saul Martinez recalled.

From empty house lot to basketball court..

After the houses were demolished, the lots where they once stood were re-purposed as basketball courts with a small surrounding park area. Today, children and adults are free to visit the park to shoot some hoops, eat, lounge and soak up some sun. There are also picknick patios with overhangs for parents to relax while their kids can have fun playing in an play area with space to run, jump, and climb on a bicycle monkey bar.

Subsequent Changes For El Paso

Heavy rainfall can potentially cause heavy floods anywhere, whether it's in an area prone to flooding or not. And in the case of the 2006 monsoon anomaly, it caused extensive damage to vast areas of the El Paso County in Texas. That year was a 100 year-event that not only caused record destruction, but also unprecedented changes to retail districts and neighborhood landscapes.

In August, extreme rainfall drenched El Paso for 11 straight days. During that fateful period, 10 inches fell on the El Paso region, making the 2006 monsoon season one of the wettest on record.

El Paso Parks

The City of El Paso offers many wide-open spaces where kids and adults can enjoy themselves. Throughout the El Paso County, there are various types of parks where anyone can engage in activities such as fishing, walking, playing sports, observing wildlife and more. For more information, please take note of the contact information below.

Administrative Office Information

• 801 Texas Avenue, 2nd Floor, El Paso, TX 79901
• (915) 212-0092
• parksandrecreation@elpasotexas.gov
• Recreational hours for El Paso parks vary within an hour to 30 minutes according to the time of year. Generally, the following hours apply: March-September:5:30am-11:00pm, October-March:6:00am-10:00pm.

Floodplain Maps

A major deficiency in statewide mitigation planning is the lack of comprehensive and up‐to‐date floodplain maps. In past years, it has been clearly noted that the cost for filling the gap and producing statewide FEMA‐approved maps is too expensive to maintain. City Counsel meetings commonly discuss immediate corrections to errant, or otherwise absent, floodplain modeling and mapping.

El Paso.. a resilient, strong city..

El Paso Texas is a resilient town that has typical problems common to other towns. Regardless of it's challenges, the town and its people have always rebounded from every setback. Today, El Paso is a thriving, bustling city that is always in development, always improving, and always growing.

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