‘Could destroy our houses’: Collapsed culvert in Verdigris woman's backyard causing serious concern

A Verdigris woman is frustrated because a culvert collapsed in her backyard.

Kaylee Antle says it collapsed last Sunday during the rains, and since then, she's contacted many people at different agencies, with no clear answers on who's responsible for fixing it.

A backyard disaster 

After living in their first home for a year and a half, Kaylee Antle and her husband aren't able to use their backyard right now.

"No, they're absolutely not allowed back here. Nobody, there's kids, there's grandkids and all that. So, everyone. We're actually getting caution tapes," said Antle.

That's because there's nothing protecting anyone from falling into a drainage ditch where there's a collapsed culvert.

 "There's nothing. There's no support at all. So I don't even know how it stayed up for as long as it did," said Antle.

Her backyard is starting to erode, and it's happening fast, and she's afraid her home will shift.

Antle said, "I don't know if it's all the pressure from the dirt being so heavy from the rain, or why it keeps falling, but it has shifted a little bit more each day."

Searching for answers and desperate for a solution

She says she's called the Home Owners Association, the Town of Verdigris, Rogers County Commissioners, and others, but she's not getting answers on who's supposed to fix the problem.

"It's not a pothole, like, I mean, it's a really big thing that could destroy our houses," said Antle. 

There are two other houses on Kaylee's left that are also dealing with the collapsed culvert, and she's scared of the next time it will rain.

She says she just wants this fixed. 

"We don't want a payoff. We don't want money. If someone would just come in and be like, Yeah, we're going to put the wall back up. We're gonna put it up properly, and we'd be like, great, good," said Antle. 

Town of Verdigris Response

News On 6 contacted the Town of Verdigris for a comment and has not heard back.