NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Hurricane season officially starts this week, but many are still recovering from last year’s storms.

New Smyrna Beach was one area along the coast that experienced devastating flooding during hurricane Ian.

That is why the city halted new construction and ordered a study on what can be done to prevent such damage from happening again.

Tuesday night, officials will unveil the results from that study in a public forum.

MacKenzie Smith is a resident interested in hearing what comes out of the forums.

“I’ve got my family and my friends here and it’s just that tropical lifestyle that you can’t get wrong,” said Smith,

Last year Hurricane Ian sent floodwaters rushing into her freshly renovated home. 

The mother of two remembers the shock of waking up and seeing feet of water. She took videos with her phone in disbelief.

“I remember holding my babies and seeing my dogs who were my babies first, like swimming around our house. It was heartbreaking, just really heartbreaking,” said Smith.

She wasn’t alone, as many experienced catastrophic flooding all across New Smyrna Beach.

Smith says they just finished up repairs within the past few weeks.

“We had to replace all the flooring, the floor brackets that raised the floor so that the house was all one level, the drywall, the baseboards, we ended up putting in some wainscoting to kind of hopefully protect our drywall hopefully for the next time that this hopefully never happens again,” said Smith.

More damage and flooding is exactly what city leaders are working to avoid. City commissioners approved a six-month development moratorium to conduct a flooding study evaluating the impact of new construction and effectiveness of citywide stormwater regulations, maintenance practices, and more.

“I am interested in what comes out of the findings tonight. I am curious to see how they are going to implement everything and move forward,” said Smith.

“Obviously something needs to be done because it is not just us, it is everybody on the street, especially to not be in a no flood zone. It is kind of terrifying”

Smith says she’ll do whatever needs to be done to protect her family and home as another storm season approaches.

“I am not going through this again,” said Smith.

As it stands now, the moratorium on new construction is set to expire on June 27th.