ORLANDO, Fla. — Residents in Orange County’s Orlo Vista neighborhood were disappointed to step outside Thursday afternoon and see their streets flooded once more.
The flooding, which crept into their yards, was not nearly as bad as the waters after Hurricanes Ian and Irma, when many of their homes sat under feet of murky muck, destroying everything.
However, they believed their problems were solved after Orange County leaders invested $23 million in upgrading retention ponds and pumps around the community. The work had been ongoing until Thursday.
“We need that next step as to what it is going to look like for us to get some results,” Aalyah Bach said. “Every hurricane season, we’re worried that that’ll be the next time we lose everything in our home.”
Adding salt to the wound, Bach said she and her neighbors are still waiting for inspectors from a grant program to check their homes two and a half years after Ian. Until then, she said she was advised to avoid making major interior repairs.
Orange County Commissioner Mike Scott said he checked out the flooding Thursday night, though it had mostly subsided by the time he arrived.
He blamed the flash flooding on a combination of heavy rains and storm drains blocked by trash and debris.
Scott said county crews would be out next week to pick up the debris piles and check all the drains to ensure water could flow toward the retention ponds.
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