Palm Bay neighbors worried after heavy rains washed away roads: 'Thought we were going to drown'
Rain washes out roads in Brevard County
Some roads are still closed and sewage seeped out from storm drains following torrential rainfall. The Space Coast was battered with nonstop rain all weekend. After dealing with flooding, some people are worried about the city’s infrastructure. Taxpayers living near crumbled roads want to know – what’s being done to prevent this damage from happening again.
PALM BAY, Fla. - Nearly six inches of rain fell in Palm Bay over the weekend and nearly 8" of rain fell throughout Brevard County, which washed away roads and caused sewage to seep out from overrun storm drains.
Some roads were closed Monday, though the craters left in some of those streets were still visible. Some residents are concerned about the city's infrastructure and want to know what the city is doing to help combat those issues.
"I didn’t think it was going to stop," said Marvin, a resident who lives near one of the washed out roads. "I thought we were going to drown."
Roads on Highland Avenue, Walden Boulevard and Weldon Street all crumbled.
One of the damaged those was right next Larry Herald’s home. He recently moved to a new part of Palm Bay and wasn’t expecting to see severe flooding in his neighborhood.
"It is a little concerning making sure that if a road collapses over here, what’s underneath the road behind us or in other communities, yeah, it is a concern," Herald said.
Road damage wasn’t the only issue. Because of all the rainfall, the city said around 25,000 gallons of sewage overflowed at three different locations. The city estimated earlier on Monday that 50,000 gallons had overflowed.
At San Fillipo, crews were out on Monday pumping out sewage from sewer holes and disinfecting the area.
"I’d like to know where the tax money’s going," Herald said. "If it’s going to support drainage and improvements – we pay a stormwater tax with every water bill. Where is that money going?"
"Get out here and handle your business. You get paid to do it, do it," said Marvin.
It wasn't immediately known how long the process of cleaning up the water and the sewage would take.