Below, a rusty tide gate is supposed to keep water from Coalbank Slough from flooding the Dakota Avenue neighborhood but residents say it hasn't been working since mid-December. Twice each day, during high tide, water from the slough floods into the neighborhood in south Coos Bay. Contrbuted Photo

LaCresha Dub keeps a tide table and a pair of knee-high rubber boots at her house but she isn't waiting for the right time to go clamming - she just wants to get out of her house without getting wet.

"We have a tide book so we know when (it's going to flood)," Dub said. "I need to know if I have to pick up my kids or if they can walk home."

Twice a day, as regular as the incoming tide, the lower end of Dakota Avenue in south Coos Bay is overrun with salty water that should be staying in Coalbank Slough. But it isn't.

The tidal waters are backing up past a rusty tide gate and into residents' driveways and front lawns, inundating cars that suck water into their mufflers as they pass.

"It's pretty messy. You can't see the ground from here to here," Dub said, pointing a finger in an arc through a wide strip of gravel road in front of her house. "It's like a big lake."

The flooding first began in 2002, when the water reached some of its highest points and was clear to the top step of Dub's rented home. The water hasn't reached that level again but ever since December, Dakota Avenue has flooded twice a day, at each high tide.

In all, the neighborhood is flooded six hours each day, residents say. The salt water has killed three or four fruit trees in Dub's back yard, stained the road and damaged the brakes on her truck. Dub said the water hasn't breached her home but a neighbor has had to put in new flooring because of water damage.

"I've replaced all my subflooring, my carpet, basically, I'm living out of boxes right now," said neighbor Dave Clark, who lives across the street from Dub. "I've lost the use of my house. We've got black mold growing up my walls."

Outside, in front of Clark's house, the problem is just as bad, if not worse.

"It's like walking on a wet mattress," Clark said, whose front lawn is a slick mix of grass and wet mud.

The city of Coos Bay is aware of the problem. Several claims have been filed against the city asking for damage repairs, including one by Clark. And for its part, the city has in the past attempted to repair the problem, and has looked at the engineering to determine the best solution.

"We're doing a lot," said City Manager Chuck Knight. "We're moving as fast as we can."

Still, Dakota Avenue residents may have to wait until summer before the city repairs both a broken stormwater drain and a rusted tide gate that's causing the neighborhood to flood.

Coos Bay has applied for permits with the Division of State Lands and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to extend the allowed in-water work period to fix the storm water pipe during the summer and also is preparing to go out for bids to do the job.

Work in state waterways is typically restricted between October and February but the city wants to have the job done in the dryer, summer months - before the next winter's rains and during a dry lull that may make the repairs easier.

Steve Doty, the city's streets supervisor, agreed with residents that the problem on Dakota Avenue is constant, but high tides create the worst possible scenario for the residents on the road.

"The problem really only exists when we have a high tide with high rain," said Doty. "But even if the tide gate and everything was right over there, there's the possibility they would flood because they're in the flood plane."

Residents disagreed and said they never saw the street flood before 2002 and want the problem fixed.

Doty said the city considered two options for repairing 180 feet of rusted stormwater line that are partially responsible for the flooding. It scrapped a plan to open a trench to replace the entire length of pipe because of adjacent underground gasoline tanks.

Instead, the city hopes to slip a 36-inch diameter pipe within the rusted but existing 42-inch pipe and fill any difference between the two with slurry.

The newer pipe would be made of a plastic material that is expected to be more resistant to the salt water that caused the corrosion of the existing corrugated metal. The current pipe was put in about 12 years ago, according to Doty.

Doty said that while the replacement pipe would be of a smaller diameter, it should allow for the same amount of flow to pass through it because the plastic material creates less friction.

City staff is proposing the project be done in two stages due to the cost associated with the repairs. The range could be anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 for the entire job, although an exact cost won't be known until after the city approves a winning low bid.

So, Doty said, the preferred repair would be to focus first on approximately 110 feet of pipe from a manhole along Dakota Avenue west, underneath Southwest Boulevard to where the creek enters the slough.

The remaining 70 feet of pipe would be repaired as a secondary project.

In the meantime, Dub, Clark and other residents appear stuck living with the flooding of their homes and yards - at least until summer.

"All I want the city to do is to take responsibility and pay me for my losses," Clark said. "Once that tide gate is fixed, I don't have any problem living here."