Flooding frustrations in Palm Harbor are worrying neighbors sick. People who live along Nebraska Avenue say flooding is a huge problem and with the rainy season just around the corner, they’re desperate for help.
“Look at this water,” Bill Welch muttered in a video he recorded on his phone. Fed up, the Palm Harbor homeowner made a video to share with his neighbors on social media. “It all comes down my driveway and floods.”
As inches of water rushed towards his home this past weekend, Welch looked on in horror as a project to alleviate flooding at 1500 Nebraska got buried in feet of rain water.
“This has not fixed anything Pinellas County,” he said exasperated into his phone, “What are you guys doing? Am I angry? Yeah, I’m angry! I’m getting flooded.”
Welch immediately shared his video on social media.
So ABC Action News went out to investigate.
Turns out a $56,000 project at 1500 Nebraska Avenue in Palm Harbor to add a culvert, drain and soil, is only meant to help the flooding in one homeowner’s yard.
So,what’s being done to help the rest of the neighbors? County workers admit Nebraska Avenue (like many older roads in Pinellas County) has a huge problem. There’s no drainage under the roads, including pipes, culverts or storm sewers, so when it rains it rinses right into people’s yards.
“Under our house into our pool,” Ruthe Morris added.
Luckily, Welch’s video made it’s way to Public Works Manager Rob Meador...and it shocked him!
“Wow! that’s a lot of water running right into his home,” he said while watching the video.
Because of the video, Pinellas County leaders are finally taking a closer look and trying to figure out how to fund a multi-million dollar fix along the 4,000 feet of Nebraska Avenue that are prone to flooding.
Infuriated neighbors hope they find a solution...and fast!
“Sometimes I get nervous because it’s so bad that it’s going to wash the house away,” Morris explained, whose home is held up on cinder blocks.
Pinellas County encourages you to take videos of flooding in your neighborhood too.
“Often times we can’t be out there at the moment its storming because we are working on so many projects, so having videos showing the issues really help us.”
The Public Works team encourages you to email any flooding videos to them. They’ve also set up a new flooding hotline. You can call them at 727-464-8900.
