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Central Florida residents fearful that Hurricane Ian floodwaters will continue to rise
Flooding concerns continue to rise among some Central Florida residents as they worry about rising flood waters around their homes
GENEVA, Fla. - Geneva, Florida, resident Bob Boulanger is still living with the effects of Hurricane Ian. His home on the banks of Lake Harney was badly flooded. He said it will be even tougher if the floodwaters rise again, with a predicted storm arriving over the next few days.
"Hopefully it stays away, I'm sure it's gonna bring big waves, either way. That's the biggest fear out here, right now," said Boulanger.
Most of his furniture is piled up in his driveway. Mold is crawling up every wall inside his house. The floodwater is even still stuck inside his sliding doors. For now, Boulanger is living in a camper parked on his driveway. He's already thinking of what to do if the rises again.
"We did take our storm shutters, a neighbor helped me cut them in half, turned them sideways, used them as wave-deflectors. It definitely helped. If this water comes back up, I'm going to have to put them back on," he said.
Meteorologists said a possible storm could bring rain over the weekend into early next week. That, along with a full moon and high seas, could lead to more flooding.
People in the Geneva neighborhood say more flooding would add to a desperate situation they've been living with for more than a month.
"All of this had three feet of water, all of this was canoeing. All of these houses had three or four feet of water in them. Some of them still have water in them," said Geneva resident Dan Shaw.
Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris says about 80 homes still have water in them. He says they're watching this storm system closely. "We are expecting some rain. About two inches in Seminole County, as well as some wind which will come from the north, which slows the process of the river upstream, which it needs to do, to get to the Atlantic Ocean."
Harris said because of continued storms like this, it's hard to say when many of these flooded residents will get any relief. "We were hoping it could be next week or the following, but this system coming in is going to hamper that."