Edgewater braces for storm with 24-hour sandbag stations

EDGEWATER, Fla. - Governor DeSantis has now issued a state of emergency in 35 Florida counties, including all of Central Florida ahead of Tropical Storm Milton.

Meanwhile, communities that have been seeing flooding even outside of major storms are spending the weekend prepping for what’s to come. 

Edgewater is one of those communities.

People there, like Robert Basile, said they’ve never seen flooding there like they have in recent years.

"We were very lucky during Hurricane Ian. We didn't have much damage, but people lost everything they owned all around," said Basile. "We’ve got the shutters up. We're not taking any chances."

Ian Pomarantz said the same thing: "We're not taking any chances."

Volusia County’s Commission Chair has blamed new construction for the flooding the area has been seeing – saying it’s changed the flow of water in a way the drainage system can’t handle.

"When we when we bought our house, we were a lower level flood zone. And now, because of what happened with Ian and Nicole, they put us in a higher level flood zone," said Pomarantz.

That’s what brought Edgewater residents like Tyler Massey to fill up sandbags for the very first time this weekend.

"We got lucky last year, but it could always change," he said.

Edgewater’s Mayor says the Interim City Manager has a plan to improve the City’s drainage system, which will be discussed at Monday’s City Council meeting.