KISSIMMEE, Fla. – More than a month after Hurricane Ian brought major floods to Central Florida, Kirk Dacosta of Buenaventura Lakes is once again boarding up his windows.
When asked by News 6 whether he had seen movement by the county to ensure flooding does not occur again in his area, Dacosta said he had not seen county workers in his neighborhood.
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A few houses down from Dacosta, Phillip Perkins placed sandbags outside the garage door of his mother-in-law’s home off of Seal Street. The house is still under repairs after it suffered flood damage inside.
“We just started cutting around all the perimeter, all of the interior walls. We ended up with almost 6 inches inside the house. Inside the garage was 9 and a half inches,” Perkins said.
He added the roof also needs to be repaired. The restoration is expected to cost more than $20,000.
Perkins and his family are worried the upcoming storm will make the lake behind the house rise again like it did during Hurricane Ian.
For residents of Buenaventura Lakes, flooding has been a problem for a long time.
Dacosta told News 6 that he and some of his neighbors in Buenaventura Lakes cleaned up four drains after Hurricane Ian turned streets into rivers.
“I was the one who went by the county guys and asked them, ‘What can you do to clear the water?’” Dacosta said. “They said they had to get a big truck to come and vacuum blah blah blah, this and that. I said, ‘No, you don’t need that.’ The county came back asked us what happened to the water. I showed them my rake. I had my rake in my hand, and I showed him what I used to clear it.”
In January, District 2 Commissioner Viviana Janer and Congressman Darren Soto said a $6.7 million project — dubbed the Buenaventure Lakes Drainage Improvement project — would help mitigate flooding issues.
As Tropical Storm Nicole approaches, Osceola County said it’s making sure all storm water drains and inlets are free of any debris so that water may flow through the system unimpeded.
However, Dacosta said he hasn’t seen any county workers cleaning the drains prior to the storm.
“When they need your vote, they send flyers all over the place, calling you, texting you go vote, but when it’s something like this happen, nobody,” Dacosta said. “[I’m} very disappointed because there’s nobody helping us.”
Osceola County is continuing to work on engineering solutions and seek federal and state grants for flooding issues within Buenaventura Lakes.
There are several projects underway that are intended to improve flooding conditions within the neighborhood, which include the following.
- Box culverts are being installed as part of the Simpson Road improvement project (Phase 1 recently began construction) to prevent major rainfall from flooding most of Buenaventura Lakes’ ponds
- A solicitation for bids to replace culverts along Royal Palm Drive was recently issued by the county.
- County officials are preparing to solicit a contractor to improve several drainage deficiencies in the neighborhood.
- Permits were submitted for new and additional outfall pipes to be located from the Buenaventura Lakes Master Drainage System to Boggy Creek.
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