Hurricane Milton aftermath: Water rescues underway in South Daytona neighborhood

Water rescues underway in South Daytona neighborhood

Big Tree Village, a residential neighborhood in Volusia County, is underwater following Hurricane Milton. Joey Giordano, who lives in the neighborhood, took a tour of the damage via boat just hours after Milton battered the Florida peninsula.

SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. - Big Tree Village, a residential neighborhood in Volusia County, is underwater following Hurricane Milton.

Joey Giordano, who lives in the neighborhood, took a tour of the damage via boat just hours after Milton battered the Florida peninsula.

"My house did okay, I’m in a lot better shape than some of these guys," Giordano said. "There’s no shortage of this in South Daytona, you go down Big Tree [Road], and every side of the road [is flooded]."

Giordano’s father also lives in the neighborhood. He has about 8 inches of floodwater inside his home. Volusia County was slammed with a storm surge and 15.6 inches of rainfall, according to Emergency Management Director Clint Mecham.

"I don’t understand how these are one in 100-year hurricanes; we’ve had two in two years," Giordano said. "I don’t buy the one-in-100-year thing, and I don’t think the insurance companies are buying it either."

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Giordano and his neighbors are all too familiar with flooding. During Hurricane Ian, some residents had 18 inches of water inside their homes; for Joseph and Christina Karns, it was déjà vu.

"I don’t see any point in staying anymore," Christina Karns said. "I can’t do this again. I can’t lose everything again."

With four kids and four cats, Karns said they plan to sleep in their cars until the water recedes.

After Ian, Giordano helped rescue about three dozen of his neighbors. This time, he was beaten to the punch.

"First responders were on top of it," Giordano said. "I think there’s two or three airboats in the neighborhood right now."

Big Tree Village is not in a mandatory evacuation zone but is less than a mile from the South Ridgewood Avenue cutoff line for Zone A’.

"I know they warn us and I know a lot of us, been here my entire life, we like to ride it out… it comes with consequences, unfortunately."

Partly due to severe flooding, authorities do not want people on the streets. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is enforcing a mandatory curfew on Thursday night. The curfew is in effect until Friday, October 11 at 5 a.m.