Indialantic's flooding fix has made the issue worse, say 'super frustrated' residents

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Published  December 19, 2024 8:22pm EST
FOX 35 Orlando
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Flooding fears for families on the space coast

FOX 35 Esther Bower talks to families on the space coast who are fearing flooding after standing water filled the streets in Indialantic. Residents are looking for answers before the next big rainfall.

The Brief

    • Residents in Indialantic are raising concerns after unexpected flooding on Michigan Avenue, which they say began after the city installed new pipes and dug swales in their yards. 
    • Neighbors argue the swales are pooling water instead of absorbing it, creating hazards and worsening flood risks. 
    • The town manager says the project was designed to improve runoff and protect the Indian River Lagoon, but homeowners are calling for a reevaluation to prevent future flooding.

INDIALANTIC, Fla. - Flooding fears reached new levels for some families on the Space Coast this week. 

Viewers in Indialantic reached out to FOX 35 after they dealt with unexpected flooding on Michigan Avenue during a December shower. 

Homeowners have lived there for 25 years and say they never had a problem with flooding until the city fixed a pipe and dug swales in their front yard. They’re worried homes could be in danger next hurricane season. 

Donna Garson filmed the flooding this week that saturated yards and left standing water on her street.

"Super frustrated with the fix that has created problems we never had before," said Garson. 

Neighbors say work on Michigan Avenue started months ago on underground pipes.

"They dug it up and put in a new sewer line in, great," said John McGurk. 

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His view of the project today isn’t so great. 

"This is a hazard," said John. 

Neighbors are calling the fix a new danger, and they’re blaming the problem on swales. 

"It's actually a ditch because a swale would serve a purpose," said Sharon McGurk, who’s worried about her grandkids' safety and falling into the sales if it's dark, and they're full of water. 

Neighbors say before the city dug swales, they never had flooding this bad.

"If you’ve just fixed something, you’ve actually created a worse problem," added Garson. 

Another question these homeowners have is why there are only about five homes on Michigan Avenue that have the swales. All the way down the street, we didn’t see them anywhere else and even the neighbors right across from them didn’t have them.

"I wish somebody if they had decided we were going to be imposed with a lake in front of our house, they could have at least to tell us what we were really doing," said John. 

FOX 35’s Esther Bower took their concerns to the town manager and asked what the project's supposed to do.

"We’re looking at two things, the environmental aspects of it but also the physical aspects of moving the water, so houses are safe and everything else," said Michael Casey, who’s Indialantic’s town manager. 

Casey says the swales are supposed to absorb rainwater so runoff doesn’t flow into the lagoon.

"It’s good for the environment," he said. "It helps get the water off the roadway and helps the Indian River Lagoon."

He says the city replaced an 8-inch storm pipe underground with a 15-inch pipe instead. 

Neighbors say, instead of being absorbed, the rainwater is pooling up, which is causing the flooding.

Residents want the swales to get a second look, so water doesn’t end up flooding them out of their homes in the future. 

"What happens when we have a big rain event, a real rain event, a hurricane? Are we just SOL," concluded Garson. 

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