ORLANDO, Fla. — As heavy rounds of rain fell on much of Central Florida, one Orange County neighborhood was weary after 4-6 inches of rain flooded out roads in the Goldenrod area Wednesday night.
Orange County officials say Public Works crews have been diligently working to get the stormwater system working the way it should to alleviate the impacts from the flooding.
In the Roanne Drive retention pond, county officials said they’ve been able to clear a blockage in an underground pipe that feeds into it, which had caused water levels to rise.
Julie Forkenbrock and Paul Widows are both residents near the Forest Lakes and Lake Pearl area. They say the recent flooding reminds them of the flooding they experienced during Hurricane Ian.
“Everybody is very concerned," said Forkenbrock. "Everyone came out last night and was kind of surveying the damage.”
Both say flooding in the area is not common when it rains.
“It’s engineered really well — we have lakes to put the water into, but obviously you have to have underground pipes that connect into the lakes and that’s where the problem is in the older part of the neighborhood right now,” said Widows.
Over the weekend, storms dumped several inches of rain in Orlando, leading to similar flooding.
City officials said the rain led to clogged drains, which worsened the rising water.
Forkenbrock said she's had to drain her pool to keep it from overflowing. She says she’s done extra work on the gutters and drainage around the house to help move the water away.
“Extra gutters pointing to the street, leading the water off of the property or sending the water in the backyard, so it hopefully drains into the swamp lake area where it’s supposed to be,” she said.
But she said with clogs, and a lot of rain falling fast, the desired outcome doesn’t always happen.
Widows said Orange County crews were in the area Wednesday to address some of the residents' complaints, and to make sure the nearby retention was flowing underground into the retention pond, which overflows into the lake.
“It was all working well, but again, this was one of the last parts of the neighborhood that was built versus the older part, which is where the problem is right now,” said Widows.
Orange County officials say a repeat of the problem can happen if it rains again, given that they’re still working to fix the issue, and water flow is still compromised.
The city of Orlando says as a matter of prevention, public works crews regularly lower lake levels in anticipation of heavy rainfall, as well as taking erosion control measures.