EDGEWATER, Fla. — Residents in Edgewater are demanding answers from city officials as they continue to recover from the flooding caused by Hurricane Milton.

What You Need To Know

  • Edgewater residents have raised concerns about the response and mitigation efforts from the city during Hurricane Milton

  • They say water pumps were stationed by lakes and canals but they were turned off before and after the storm

  • In an email, Environmental Services Director Randy Coslow said the city rented two 6-inch diameter pumps, and one 8-inch diameter pump for flood control once the forecast showed Edgewater would receive excessive rainfall from Hurricane Milton.

  • The city already had one 6-inch and two 4-inch pumps already in inventory which were put in use by Wastewater Collections to maintain the functionality of sewage lift stations, the email said

  • But residents in the area said they are afraid that the flooding was worse because the pumps were not in operation long enough

One of their biggest concerns during the response and mitigation efforts was they claim the city had water pumps out by lakes and canals, but they were turned off before and after the storm.

Lisa Delaney has lived in Edgewater for 14 years, and as she walked into her home, you could still see her living room full of her belongings lifted off the floor as she was afraid they would be ruined by Hurricane Milton.

“We piled everything up as high as we could," Delaney said. "I'm afraid to take it down because, I mean, I know hurricane season is just about over, but I don't want to take it all down, put everything back, and then have to put it all back up again (if there is another storm).”

Her street, Kumquat Drive. flooded during Hurricane Ian.

“This was the street right in front of my house, or the river, whatever you want to call it,” she said as she scrolled through pictures.

She said she remembers the stress as Hurricane Milton approached.

“I panicked, and I kept thinking all the stuff I had to hurry up and get out of the garage last time," Delaney said. "And I thought if I could just make it so that I don't have as much stuff to throw out.”

Down the road from her house is Duck Lake Pond, just one of the locations where the city placed pumps during Hurricane Milton. 

“There's a big, huge pond out there. They had pumps out. The one wasn't running for at least two days," Delaney said. "And my son saw that, too, when we went to fill sandbags up. I don't know what the deal was with that, but no, they weren't running.”

Spectrum News 13 reached out to Edgewater to ask about how did the pumps operate, before, during and after the hurricane.

In an email, Edgewater Environmental Services Director Randy Coslow said the city rented two 6-inch diameter pumps, and one 8-inch diameter pump for flood control once the forecast showed Edgewater was to receive excessive rainfall from Hurricane Milton. This was in addition to one 6-inch and two 4-inch pumps already in inventory, which were put in use by Wastewater Collections to maintain the function of sewage lift stations that were out of power and surcharged.

He provided the following a summary of the city’s flood control pumping activity:

  1. Crews pumped down Duck Lake beginning on Monday, Oct. 7, ceasing pumping on Wednesday, Oct. 9, in order to create capacity pre-storm to avoid repeat flooding in the Gaslight Square neighborhood (streets named Regent Street and Bond Street). The water was discharged into the city's nearby stormwater collections system, which drains to the city's 18th Street canal.

  2. Environmental Services suspended pumping Duck Lake prior to the severe weather to allow the downstream collection system time to effectively recover enough to serve the oncoming event.

  3. Widespread flooding occurred in the area around Duck Lake, which required until Friday afternoon to recede. Once the streets were passable in the surrounding area, crews resumed pumping Duck Lake to relieve the flooding in Gaslight Square on Friday afternoon, Oct. 11. This was discontinued on Saturday night, Oct. 12, as the roads in Gaslight Square were dry and passable. Crews resumed pumping Duck Lake on Monday, Oct. 14, to help bring a more timely end to the ongoing sanitary sewer overflows that were occurring in the neighborhood due to flooded yards generating inflow into the sewers. Pumping ended on Wednesday, Oct. 16, after no further storm impacts were observed.

  4. Crews began pumping 18th Street canal across Riverside Drive on Thursday 10/10 to expedite recovery from flooded homes and impassable streets in the canal's service area. Crews discontinued pumping on Friday 10/11 when all streets within the service area (except Gaslight Square) were dry and passable.

But residents in the area, including Delaney, said they are afraid that the flooding was worse because the pumps did not run long enough.

“I can tell you that pump was off for two days because we've heard we made a couple different trips up to Mango and had to pass that," Delaney said. "And I said to my son, 'I wonder why that pump is off.' And, you know, at first, I figured, okay, maybe something happened to it, but clearly, they'll be able to fix it right away. But two days in a row. No. So somebody dropped the ball on that.”

She said she can’t help but fear what another storm can bring to her and her neighbors. 

“A lot of us are stuck. But even if we weren't stuck, if our houses were all fixed, who's going to want to buy a house that floods in a neighborhood that is regularly on the news because we have flooding problems?" Delaney said. "And, you know, I feel like I’m stuck. We all do.”

Spectrum News 13 asked to speak with Edgewater Interim Manager Jeffrey Thurman but was told he was unavailable.

On Monday night, he and other city leaders discussed a flood mitigation initiative at the city council meeting.