Dick Abare said his suburban Tampa neighborhood floods all the time — and not just during storms like Hurricane Milton.
He attended a meeting at the Carrollwood Cultural Center on Wednesday night, trying to get answers.
"Have somebody come in that's not going to patronize us all and say everything's good, there's no problem here, and tell us why our street floods in a summer rain," he said.
Abare said his home had several feet of water during Milton, even though he's not in a designated flood zone. But his issues go deeper — Abare said that his neighborhood floods all the time, and he said he's still not getting any answers.
"As long as Hillsborough County wants to patronize us and fall back on the 100-year storm... do your job. Do what you're paid to do. Resolve this issue," Abare said.
"We've been a resident there for about 22 years, and actually talked to the county numerous times, that even when it's dry, our drainage at the end of the street is always wet. There's always water in the cauldron back there," he said. "So we understand it was a 100-year storm, but we've complained before 100-year storms that we don't drain to the point the neighbors on the end of our cul-de-sac, when we have a heavy rain, they physically have to pull their cars up towards the top of the street. They can't get out of there into their cars."
Abare said it's gotten so bad that two of his neighbors who have already rebuilt their homes put them on the market to sell.
"They're afraid to live there. We're losing two great sets of neighbors because they're scared to death to go through it again," he said.
The county is holding eight public meetings to hear how it can do a better job of handling flooding during the upcoming storm season.
Below are the remaining meetings:
- 5:30 p.m. April 29 — Plant City High School cafeteria, 1 Raider Pl., Plant City
- 6:30 p.m. May 7 — Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Ave., Tampa
- 6 p.m. May 12 — University Area Community Development Corporation, Inc., 14013 N. 22nd St., Tampa
- 5:30 p.m. May 15 — Jimmie B. Keel Regional Public Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave., Tampa
- 6 p.m. May 19 — Lennard High School, 2342 E. Shell Point Rd., Ruskin
