MULBERRY, Fla. — Melinda Cockram said the ground around her home is so saturated that it’s sinking under her feet. She lives on Shady Acres Drive in Mulberry and said her street never experienced flooding. She claims that changed when a new subdivision and school were built nearby on Bailey Road in 2021.
“We did not have a water flow problem until the water came in off of all of us,” Cockram said.
Cockram said that when it rains, water flows from Bailey Road onto her street and floods her and her neighbors' yards. She said that after she complained to Polk County leaders, crews came out and dug deep ditches in front of their homes and replaced some of the culverts. She said the ditch was holding water.
"Those are mosquitoes and tadpoles, and I have to use all kinds of mosquito stuff to prevent me from getting sick. I can’t even go outside at night without a flashlight to take my dog out,” Cockram said.
Cockram said the ditch is not draining water as intended. “The moisture is just pulling everything. Everything’s falling under there because it just stays wet under my home.”
The excess water has caused her home to tilt and damaged the sheds on her property.
“My house is unlevel now. I do not have a way to fix it. People are being flooded across the road. There is no ditch over there to handle the amount of water that is coming on them. Really, in all honesty we shouldn’t have to dig ditches. We wanted ditches to be put on Bailey Road,” she said.
ABC Action News reached out to Polk County leaders for answers.
The director of Polk County Roads and Drainage Division, Jay Jarvis, said there is no drainage system along Bailey Road. He said the County will need funding for a project that expansive.
Cockram wants the County to find a fix soon. “Appropriately handle the water flow on our road, not the water flow from Bailey. It should not be destroying these people’s house and mine,” Cockram said.
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