SPRING HILL, Fla. — With every heavy rain, comes flooding around homes off US 41 in Spring Hill.
“I hate this. This is agony,” says Spring Hill resident Bob Howell.
With some properties flooded out, horses have had to relocate.
“It’s just such a high volume of water and it has no place to go in our community,” said Stefanie Schatzman.
Schatzman says the problem comes from clogged lakes that are overgrown with plant life.
She remembers flooding around here going back to 1998.
Rerouting the water isn’t a solution, she says, because keeping one area dry means another will flood.
“It is beyond words — traumatic. It pits our neighbors against our neighbors,” she said.
A few homes are always in danger of flooding, many other properties are affected too.
“There are ways to fix this. It’s expensive,” resident Bob Howell said.
Officials with Pasco County say they are working with the Southwest Water Management District to find a possible solution to a decades-long condition.
They filled in a ditch, but that did not help.
Stefanie says she loves her home and doesn’t want to leave.
“I have thought of moving. But that doesn’t solve it for all my neighbors.”
Here is Pasco County’s statement on the situation:
The Winding Creek/Shady Acres is a private subdivision located on the west side of US 41 in Pasco County (Spring Hill area). Most properties in the subdivision are on 5 acres or more. Several of the residents experience periodic flooding in their pastures. According to the available records, there have been no reports of any homes flooding. However, because the pastures become submerged, agricultural activities are impacted. Historically, when the subdivision is no longer receiving water flow, the pastures stay submerged for months.
Pasco County, in coordination with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, filled in an un-permitted ditch located at the rear of one of the properties on Mahoney Drive following resident requests. Filling the ditch did not improve flood water levels in the neighborhood.
Portions of Mahoney Drive are overtopped with water at this time, however, the road is currently passable for emergency vehicles.
The County and the District are working together to investigate this matter further, as well as explore possible solutions to this decades-long condition.
