LARGO, Fla. — Tuesday’s storm caused a lot of headaches for residents of one Largo neighborhood.
They say every time a heavy rain comes through, flooding is the norm along Dahlia Place, often referred to as “Lake Dahlia.”
“Proud owner of waterfront property in downtown Largo,” Chris Girard said, in frustration.
Girard said he has exhausted all efforts trying to get some help with ongoing flooding and has even dealt with more than a foot of water seeping into his home in the past.
“I replaced the carpet and then it flooded the next year and you have to replace the carpet again so now I got tile floors,” said Girard.
Neighbors tell ABC Action News drainage problems have persisted for years without any workable solutions from the City of Largo.
“If this is just from a regular downpour, a hurricane is going to bring a whole lot more rain than this and quick,” said Debra Muenzel.
Muenzel said flooding has happened at least four times in the last year.
She said on Tuesday, she was forced to walk and float her groceries in a plastic tub because the water on the road was too deep to drive through.
“I have health issues and if I needed to call an ambulance and they’re not going to come down the street with the ambulance and they have to walk down the street to get me, how safe am I?”
The City of Largo responded to the following questions with these statements.
- Is this a known issue?
"Yes, the City of Largo is aware of this situation. For the past 5 years the City has been budgeting and correcting on a prioritized basis a number of locations that experience persistent flooding."
- Does the city have any plans to fix this?
"Yes, the City Commission recently approved (June 1, 2021) the award for the engineering evaluation and design for the corrective actions at Dahlia Place. Once the design is complete, the corrective actions are expected to begin in 2022. The combined cost of the design and corrective action exceeds 1 million dollars.
The project will be upgrading the culverts and/or ditches at Starkey Road on Channel 10 near the East Bay Oaks Mobile Home Community and at Lake Palms Drive on Channel 10 combined with regrading the south flowing tributary ditch west of Dahlia Place and Gardenia Place. New inlet/collection structures between the Dahlia Place and Gardenia Place cul-de-sac roadway will convey roadway runoff through the collector system without overflowing the local street and driveways."
