ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — When Zephyrhills got four a half inches of rain Tuesday night, it turned Shelby Lovell’s home off Geiger Road into an island.
“It happened within a matter of 30 to 40 minutes that my house was about to take on water,” he said.
The home narrowly escaped flooding, but the garage did not. And with the home’s septic system underwater too, Lovell — a lineman and dad of two, including an infant — is at his wit’s end.
“It’s a huge headache,” he said. “ I work on it for hours. I only got about an hour and a half of sleep last night.”
So far, he says Pasco County has offered little help, since his street is privately-maintained.
However, the county, State of Florida, and City of Zephyrhills are addressing flooding issues elsewhere, including at the Silverado Golf Course, where Paul Gonnella says much of his backyard is underwater and his home is under threat.
“Trying to protect my family, and we’re trying to protect everything we own here, you know,” Gonnella said.
According to officials, recent rain events and rain from Hurricane Debby flooded the golf course and areas to the north, so they are using pumps and miles of hoses to manage the flooding by carefully moving water south toward the Hillsborough River.
A spokesperson for Pasco County says a local "State of Emergency" remains in place.
“It’s a pretty scary situation, you know,” said Gonnella.
Though some of the areas have flooded before, neighbors like Gonnella say drainage problems are now apparent and fear infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the area’s explosive growth.
Meanwhile, during the peak of hurricane season, Lovell fears what a named storm would do to his home right now.
“That would be devastating. I would lose everything. I’d probably, honestly, take water in my house, and it would just hurt my family so bad,” he said.
Both Pasco County and the City of Zephyrhills say they are working closely with the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Below is the full statement from the City of Zephyrhills:
Currently, in conjunction with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Pasco County Emergency Management, and Pasco County Government, we are implementing additional measures to manage the current flooding. Pasco County is presently assisting with actively pumping water out of the Silverado Golf Course into nearby swales and our conveyance system to the south. This is part of our broader effort to mitigate the immediate impacts of flooding.
It's important to note that Silver Oaks and the Silverado Golf Course are located within an AE Flood Zone. This designation by FEMA identifies areas at high risk for flooding due to their proximity to floodplains, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. Silver Oaks is integral to the water conveyance system in the area, particularly for directing water from Sutton Lake to the south.
The recent flooding is largely due to unprecedented rainfall, including the remnants of Hurricane Debby and an additional 4.5 inches of rain within a span of two hours on the evening of Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
This area also experienced flooding in 1998 and 2004. In response to those events, Pasco County constructed Geiger Pond as a mitigation measure. This pond plays a key role in managing stormwater and reducing the risk of flooding in the surrounding areas.
