SOCORRO, Texas -- Socorro residents living on the Valley Ridge subdivision continue to see problems whenever it rains. And now, they're questioning if the city even has the qualified staff to remedy the problem.

What caused the latest upheaval is what some residents are calling a man-made mess at the corner of Thunder Road and Rio Vista Road.

"It's embarrassing to hear about in the news and the papers. We should have already taken care of this several years ago," said Biana Meyer who lives on Thunder Road.

Meyer is one resident expected to speak out about her neighborhood in the Valley Ridge subdivision before the city council in the near future. She said the flooding continues and she hasn't seen any improvement.

"When the rains come, our main concern is that we cannot get out of the neighborhoods at all, let alone effectively," said Meyer.

Meyer was even more upset to see the work done by the city last year to prevent Thunder Road from flooding or being blocked off.

"What we did, we cleaned the arroyo," said Socorro Mayor Trini Lopez.

Lopez who has been under fire about this issue for years said the rain is not the problem, the sand is. He said the water from the arroyo is supposed to naturally spill across Thunder Road into a field.

"But if it discharges over there, wouldn't it flood the street?" asked KFOX reporter Monica Balderrama.

"It's going to go through the street but before that it would fill the street with sand about this high," responded Lopez.

Residents say water on Thunder Road instead of sand is not good enough.

"Socorro has an obligation to its residents to properly take care of these matters and not let them get out of hand, like they are today," said Meyer.

Meyer said she would like to see better planning in the city of Socorro.

"A master plan doesn't sound like a scientific theory. It sounds like something that needs to be done is Socorro. Let's figure out what's gonna take care of this problem. Let's figure out how to hire the proper qualified engineers," said Meyer.

Lopez said the city bought $500,000 worth of heavy equipment in order to clean arroyos whenever they fill up with sand.