HOLLY HILL, Fla. — Residents in Holly Hill are still working to recover from the flooding they experienced during Hurricane Milton.

And now, residents who live on New Castle Court say they are also dealing with a sewage back up on their street.

What You Need To Know

  • Residents in Holly Hill are still working to recover from the flooding they experienced during Hurricane Milton

  • And now, some who live on New Castle Court say they are also dealing with a sewage back up on their street

  • The city of Holly Hill is scheduled to host a workshop at 4 p.m. on Oct. 30 to discuss stormwater issues

“We’re lower on this side, but everybody from this, from my house down is completely gutted,” said New Castle Court resident Danielle Latona.

After Hurricane Milton flooded her street, people’s belongings have been piled up on the side of the road. And to make matters even worse, Latona said there’s a smell.

“Isn’t that a lovely smell?” she asked while surveying drainage at the end of the road.

“Until about two days ago, it was very bad," Latona said. "When there’s a little bit of a wind, we don’t feel it as bad. But once there’s, like, a standstill and no wind, and you can still smell it sitting outside my house."

A video taken by her the day after Hurricane Milton made landfall shows the area completely underwater.

“It’s coming down our street," Latona said. "So, all the water from everywhere else is. And that’s why we were stuck for four days."

She said many good memories of the time in her home are now tainted with all the flooding she’s experienced.

“Now, when I walk in my house, I just, it’s overwhelming," she said. "And I don’t want to be here anymore."

This is not the first time her house flooded — it happened in 2009, and again during Hurricane Ian in 2022.

“It’s frustrating to see that nothing has been done," she said of the flooding issue. "Even though we’re told it’s not an overnight fix. Well, from 2009 to 2024 is not overnight."

Latona said she hopes the city takes action soon to address what she and her neighbors here are going through. 

“Nobody, no agencies ever, from 2009, 2022, and now 2024 — nobody has come down here to help us or ask us if we need anything," she said. "And I think that’s our biggest frustration."

In an email, Holly Hill City Manager Joe Forte said he and his staff were investigating the cause of the flooding that took place in Latona's cul-de-sac off of Anniston Avenue, as well as other areas of the city, to help come up with a plan to prevent future flooding.

He said it was the first time in all the years he’s been with Holly Hill that he saw this amount of rainfall and flooding, which caused the LPGA canal to overflow.  

“What happened to the residents of Holly Hill and most of the cities in Volusia County, and along the hurricane’s path, is truly devastating and as a problem solver, it is frustrating to me to not have an immediate solution,” Forte said in the email.

He added the city is currently involved in a vulnerability study to determine where the flooding concerns are.

Forte said the city is in the process of an $11 million major improvement to the city's sewer treatment plant.

The Holly Hill City Commission recently approved a project to install seven large backflow prevention devices into the outfalls to the Halifax River that will reduce the amount of high tide water entering the system and free up valuable storage space — even if just for a short period while the tide moves out.

The city is scheduled to host a workshop at 4 p.m. on Oct. 30 to discuss stormwater issues.