When it rains in Shiloh, a small, predominantly Black community in Coffee County in southeastern Alabama, misery follows.
It’s been that way since 2018, when work began on the expansion of U.S. 84 from two lanes to four. Flooding is a constant, leading to persistent issues with septic tank overflows as well as an invasion of snakes — primarily water moccasins — rats and mosquitoes.
Residents are struggling to keep up with rising homeowner’s insurance brought on by the flooding; many homes have gone unrepaired.
“Homes are sinking. Houses are cracking,” community resident Timothy Williams told ABC News. He said the town was put into “a bowl” that has damaged everything in its path, wiping away generational wealth.
Two years ago, Shiloh’s Black residents filed a civil rights complaint with the federal government alleging unfair treatment.
Earlier this month, the feds wrapped up their investigation announcing a settlement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to erect a drainage system to curb the flooding, “a first step toward addressing broader needs of the community,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
But there’s no guarantee of any compensation for what’s already been lost. And the Alabama Department of Transportation continues to deny violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination in any federally funded endeavor.
The Alabama DOT “is not admitting to any wrongdoing, and the [Federal Highway Administration] is also not concluding that the state agency has violated any rule,” according to the voluntary agreement.
Sixteen residents of Shiloh have signed a petition asking for a compensation fund that would provide relocation assistance to move to the other side of the highway, which doesn’t experience flooding, or repair the homes for those who remain.
But there is fear among community fears of retribution. Williams speaks on behalf of the community because many others are fearful of retaliation.
“We need you to fix the problem and then compensate the people,” he told AL.com. “Make the people whole, because why did we have to be traumatized for six years and you know you did it intentionally to get us off the property and everybody’s not going to, they’re not just going to give up their property.”
Leaving Shiloh is not an option for most who live there. Black-owned properties have been passed down from generation to generation, a great source of pride for the community, said Williams, who lives in the home he inherited from his grandmother.
“Everyone there is kin,” he said. “We call Shiloh ‘God’s Country,’ because it’s in the Bible. Shiloh is known for greatness.”
Now, it’s something far less, smelly and damp, full of croaking frogs and raw sewage. Williams’ home is one of 13 directly impacted by the flooding. He shared a recent letter from a remodeling company that declined to work on his property because of safety concerns.
“Upon further evaluation, there are substantial structural issues easily visible from the cracks in the walls, foundation and sagging roof,” the general manager or the company wrote. “It is the recommendation of our company (that) the residence is unsafe so JNB services will not perform any remodeling.”
So why were drainage pipes directed into Shiloh? Williams said it’s not hard to figure out.
“This is racism, there’s no oher way around it,” Williams said. “And they don’t even want to correct the problem.”
Williams and his neighbors believe that ALDOT discriminated against them in its design of the highway drainage system. They noted how all the drains from the new stretch of highway all empty out near homes in Shiloh while the farmland just down the road, owned by whites, avoided any runoff.
While the state has denied any responsibility for the flooding, they have paid three residents $5,000 or less after they voiced concerns, according to ABC. But that help came with restrictive covenants on their property deeds that prevented them and future owners of their homes from ever suing the state.
Robert Bullard, a scientist known as the father of environmental justice, said the recent agreement does not fulfill the government’s obligations to the residents of Shiloh.
“To achieve a just solution, the Shiloh residents need to be made whole beyond fixing the highway flooding,” Bullard said in a statement on the website for his Center for Environmental and Climate Justice.
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