EDINBURG — Flooding is hardly ever convenient, but heavy rains could hardly have come at a worse time for at least one Rio Grande Valley drainage improvement project.

Ten-foot flood waters demolished a temporary levee in the Hidalgo County drainage district’s floodwater channel through Willacy County on Thursday, sending water flowing through a section of the project that was weeks from completion, said Godfrey Garza, the director of the drainage district.

Hidalgo County commissioners met on short notice Friday morning to authorize emergency contracts for the drainage project and for inundated colonias.

The update to the channel was part of a $100 million bond issue aimed at repairing the county’s drainage infrastructure in the face of assessments that the current system would not hold up under hurricane conditions.

McAllen Construction and S&B Infrastructure, the firms building the channel through Willacy to the Laguna Madre, were given emergency contracts to repair the damage in addition to completing the structure.

However, redoing that work will have to wait until the water goes down, Garza said; it could begin today or Monday. The cost of the damage to the project will not be known until engineers can get a good look at underwater components.

The levee in question was along Farm-to-Market Road 1425, just south of FM 491.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Sylvia Handy said her precinct includes four colonia areas that sustained significant flood damage — a problem that has recurred in the areas for a decade.

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Sara Perkins covers Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4472.