TAMPA, Fla. — Driving, swimming, kayaking; however you got to work Thursday morning, it was likely a wet journey. Dripping wet for those living in unincorporated Tampa where water came well above some vehicles tires, stranding them in their yards.
“No way cars can get through,” Sherri Gonzalez and her husband were only able to leave their street because of the truck and even later took out their kayaks to relieve the stress of it all. “If you don’t have a truck you aren’t getting through,” she added.
According to Hillsborough County, four inches of rain fell in one hour near Ventura Avenue and Causeway Boulevard. A spokesperson tells ABC Action News many Bay Area neighborhoods are not equipped to handle that amount of rain in such a short time span.
“Feels terrible because when you want to go places you can’t go,” Esmeralda Tosabo, says she’s used to the rain water causing issues.
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It hasn’t always been like this, though. Longtime residents of the area explain severe flooding started just a couple of years ago after nearby construction.
They believe it changed how their original drainage used to work.
“The mud the trash the garbage, that flows up in the yard it’s just unsanitary,” Gonzalez says each time it rains the water rises and quickly. So often in fact, the county has installed signs along their street that say "Road Under Water."
Hillsborough County had crews out since 7 a.m. Thursday, working to pump out the area and said the portable pump will remain until it’s completely dry.
The county added they are looking into a more permanent fix.
