"This is a critical
problem," said Volusia County Council member Dwight Lewis, who
represents West Volusia. "If I made a list of the problem areas it
would be a page long. It's worse now than after last year’s
hurricanes. The public is very nervous as to what still might be to
come."
An
unprecedented amount of rainfall in some pockets of West Volusia had
lakes spilling into normally dry neighborhoods and roads flooding
because drainage systems filled to the brim couldn’t take any more
water. County leaders, such as Lewis, said it's time for the cities
and county to take a "holistic" look at subdivision regulations which,
in some cases, allow systems that can't handle excessive storm water.
"We've got a dozen homes
with water in them and probably three times that many are threatened,"
Volusia County Public Works Director Mary Anne Connors told the County
Council at its Aug. 4 meeting in DeLand. Flooding problems literally
were coming to the surface in DeLand, Deltona, DeBary, Port Orange and
Ormond Beach. In unincorporated Volusia, the problem is compounded
from a policy point of view by more than 300 miles of roads that are
not maintained by the county. Yet, residents on numerous impassible
streets are looking to government for relief.
The county is providing
pumping operations in areas where the roads are not on the approved
maintenance list.
A notable example is Place
Pond Road in DeLeon Springs where the county agreed to bring in
12-inch pumps to provide relief to residents who have been isolated by
standing water.
Lake Gertie, in the
northwest DeLand area, is at an all-time high. Connors told the County
Council that Lake Gertie illustrates the West Volusia flooding problem
that is exacerbated by lake and low-lying areas that have no basins in
which to drain. Although flooding is a problem in East Volusia as
well, the Halifax and Tomoka rivers, canals and the Atlantic Ocean
serve as points for stormwater runoff.
County government and
several cities were running pumping operations 24 hours a day,
cleaning ditches, constructing berms, and, in some cases, vacuuming
and trucking water out of several flooded areas.
The groundwater now is so
high that even one inch of rain floods on the surface," said County
Stormwater Engineer Gary Cook. The county's Public Works Department
was receiving about 200 calls a week from citizens looking for relief.
"We have the staff, the
equipment and the commitment," said County Road and Bridge Director
George Recktenwald. "Our biggest concern is the patience of the
public. We can't get to everyone at once."
Members of the County
Council said this year's flooding problems have uncovered the obvious
–development regulations need a thorough review. Many of the
flood-plagued areas in the cities and unincorporated county are new
subdivisions. "We need to look at our permitting process," Connors
said. "It's time to revamp our regulations as it relates to stormwater.
We are seeing flooding in areas we've never seen before."
