DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona Beach leaders are working on a plan to address flooding issues in the area.

The city is partnering with the US Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with a feasibility study to address flooding in low-lying areas.

“This is a project that we’ve hoped for about ten years. We’ve fought, prayed and finally, thanks to Congressman Waltz and others, it is coming to fruition,” Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry said.

Henry is referring to Florida Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, whose district covers parts of Volusia County. In December 2022, Waltz sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and Assistant Secretary of the USACE Michael Connor to highlight the need for hazard mitigating infrastructure along Florida’s coast to reduce the impacts from flooding, such as the devastation Florida experienced during Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

“Hurricanes Ian and Nicole were devastating to Florida’s coastal infrastructure, from our beaches and dunes to our coastal armoring. Northeast Florida has been left vulnerable and unprotected,” Waltz said. “To help address these damages head on, I was proud to secure this funding and begin the process of rebuilding our stormwater and flooding infrastructure.”

The mayor says the $3 million study would bring economists, environmental specialists, and other experts together to address the issue.

For Daytona Beach resident Glenna Doyle, it’s still hard to look at the pictures of hurricane season 2022, when her business Salon 230 was flooded following hurricanes Ian and Nicole. 

“My neighbors usually send me pictures of. You can see how high it was on the bench there,” Doyle said as she looked at a picture where the water came in damaging workstations, electrical connections and the floor paint. She’s been trying to make repairs since then. 

“I painted my building, put a new AC and new roof on, and I was waiting to see what the floods were going to bring this year. And I still don’t know if I’m ready to invest the money in something that next year is going to peal right back out,” Doyle said.

As a small business owner, Doyle says it’s hard to see the water cause so much damage to what she has worked so hard for. “You feel hopeless and helpless (…) I get very angry, but I’m trying to like, say, oh, well, what good does that do?”

According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the area bounded by the Nova Canal, Orange Avenue, Ridgewood Avenue and Beville Road is surrounded by higher ground, creating a bowl-shaped topography and is highly susceptible to flooding during major storm events. This project will reduce flood risk in the area where flooding is a recurring problem due to its low elevation, the frequent breaching of the Nova Canal, and the continued impact of sea-level rise.

Mayor Henry says the 3-year study was funded by the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023.

“We wished that we had a magic wand and that we could make flooding go away. But we were excited because this is the best opportunity that we’ve ever had,” Henry said. “The Army Corps has the resources and the skills to solve the problem, and we’re going to be supportive of this and hopeful that it will be the solution that we’ve prayed for really over 70 years.”

The city will sign the agreement to move forward with the study at the next city commission meeting scheduled for Jan. 17.