Miller Lake residents pleading for help as floodwaters inch closer to homes

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Published  November 14, 2024 11:45pm EST
FOX 35 Orlando
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Residents plead for help as floodwaters inch closer

With water levels continuing to rise and homes on the verge of flooding, residents living on Miller Lake are fed up with a lack of support from city and county leaders.

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - With water levels continuing to rise and homes on the verge of flooding, residents living on Miller Lake are fed up with a lack of support from city and county leaders.

"You can see that the water is right there," said Catherine Levinson. "Right there!"

Levinson, pointing to the floodwater inching closer to her Shady Lane home, said she’s never seen the lake this high – even after Hurricane Ian.

"I would say, another couple feet, and we’re all going to lose our homes," Levinson said. "All of the owners back here, and there’s probably 50–60 homeowners back here."

Levinson said she paid about $20,000 to bring in 25 truckloads of dirt to raise her property. She also elevated her generator and A/C units.

According to Levinson and her neighbors, a 36-inch drainage pipe, installed in 2017, diverts water from surrounding areas under U.S. 1792 and into Miller Lake – causing the water level to continuously rise since Hurricane Milton.

"We are absorbing everyone’s water… even the underground water, and every day this increases," Levison said.

Two-thirds of David Kremer’s 6-acre property is flooded.

"We’re absolutely fed up," said Kremer. "If we get rain next week, that’s going to destroy a lot of homes, not just ours."

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Kremer’s daughter used to live in a mobile home on the property. The home’s A/C unit is now submerged under several feet of water, and floodwater was seeping up through the home’s floor vents until Kremer sealed them.

"We’ll have to tear it down, and then, based on how the water is, it’s unlikely to be able to rebuild here," Kremer said. "It’s a complete loss."

At the end of Shady Lane, Marco Cruz’s property is usually 500 feet from the lake. But now, the water is ten or twelve feet from entering his home. Cruz trains horses on the land. He’s currently housing seven horses on the property.

"It was a dream come true to have a property with my horses," Cruz said.

His dream is now a nightmare, as he’s losing out on business every day. His training pen is underwater. Cruz said he sold two of his own horses this week to make ends meet.

"Hopefully we can get the water out," Cruz said.

In addition to sealing the pipe feeding water into Miller Lake, Shady Lane neighbors want the excess lake water pumped to a 70-acre uninhabited lot.

In an email sent on November 14, a representative of St. Johns River Water Management District wrote that due to multiple landowners at the property and unknown drainage patterns, they don’t believe pumping the water to that location is an option.

"I feel like they’re sacrificing a few to save the many," Levinson said.

Another representative followed up by stating they are working with local municipalities to find a place to pump Miller Lake water, but added they are not the ones who perform the pumping. 

Most of the people FOX 35’s Hannah Mackenzie has spoken with living around Miller Lake do not have flood insurance. They told Mackenzie they can’t get help from FEMA, as FEMA said this is a man-made problem.

With no help from the city or county, Miller Lake residents said the next step, one they feel they’re being forced to take, is to go to court.

"We do not want to go to court," Levinson said. "We do not want to hire an attorney, it’s not what our ambition is. Unfortunately, because the city and the county and the St. Johns River Management team are not functioning together as a unit, it’s like we’re going to have to force them to."

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