ORLO VISTA, Fla — Orlo Vista residents are still searching for answers to help address future flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

The flooding from the storm was devastating for Curtis Broner, who has lived in the community for ten years. He said it’s time people pay attention to the issue.

In the last five years, Orlo Vista has flooded twice, during Irma and now Ian.

Curtis is a dialysis patient and was forced to leave his home by boat, meaning he couldn’t take his life-saving equipment with him. Some of it ended up getting damaged by the storm.

“The bags that it actually uses to go with the machine, all of it got damaged,” explained Broner.

The sanitation equipment got ruined as well. Curtis was in the hospital for a week after leaving his home, and during that stay, he said he was depressed thinking about what was happening to his property. Now he is back fixing up all of the damage.

He explained the flooding in the area is no secret. They had issues back in the ‘60s and during Irma. Curtis believes leaders can longer put this issue on the back burner.

“Respond. You know it was a problem before; we had many floods before, just not to the magnitude of hurricane Ian. They saw the problem, but they just kept ignoring it. When are they going to put this as a top priority,” added Broner.

Earlier this month, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said only so much water could be pumped from those retention ponds and diverted into the Shingle Creek area.

Curtis thinks a solution to this flooding problem involves the area’s retention ponds.

“I think they should have expanded the retention ponds to a larger degree, to actually absorb most of this water, so it doesn’t reach to the level,” explained Curtis. “You probably can’t fully prevent the floods, but just to keep it from reaching the houses, I think that should be enough.”

In January, congressional representative Val Demings was able to secure federal funding that was part of Hurricane Irma’s recovery efforts. The funding will help cover a drainage improvement project in Orlo Vista.

There is a meeting scheduled for next month on November 15 at the Orlo Vista Chamber of Commerce to discuss residents’ flooding concerns. That meeting will start at 6 p.m.