South Florida areas hard hit by flooding continue to dry out
FORT LAUDERDALE - After torrential downpours, flood water nearly invaded John Machonis' home last week.
Machonis lives in Edgewood, the Fort Lauderdale neighborhood devasted by flooding 14 months ago.
"Last year I had four feet of water. I replaced everything," he says. His neighbor, Tony Schreiber, got a couple of inches of water in his home.
He says the city did help. "They sent pump trucks immediately but I wish they would do more beforehand."
Fort Lauderdale has been working on drainage issues in Edgewood. They spent $14.5 million laying a new stormwater pipe.
There are three pumping stations nearby in River Oaks, but only one was online during the flooding last week.
The city says they deployed additional pumps to help.
In their progress report online, the city lists all the projects underway to get ahead of the flooding.
Edgewood shows near completion. Other flood-prone areas like the Melrose community, west of I-95, are years away from improvements.
Other South Florida areas hit hard by flooding continue to dry out.
The Tiger Tail Business Park, off Sterling Road in Dania Beach has a lot of standing water, even though there is a drainage lake that is overflowing.
Tenants say with so much building going on nearby, there's a lot of rainwater runoff that's dumping into the lake causing it to overflow.
The owner of the complex has proposed a project to drain the water.
Tenants also say they would like the city to send pumping trucks when possible so their businesses can operate normally.
Click here to see Fort Lauderdale Stormwater Program Progress Report and click here to see the Edgewood Neighborhood Stormwater Improvements.
