Flooding concerns arise near Lake Harney

GENEVA, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - People living near around Lake Harney in Seminole County are worried about rising floodwaters around their property and encroaching on their driveways. 

Kevin Sanders had a playground for his kids in the back yard, now it's an aquatic obstacle course.

“We're afraid with the level we're at this year,” Sanders said, “we're about four feet higher than we were this time, last year - we're afraid the flood's gonna be even worse.”

Seminole County officials said they got eighteen inches of rain in June. Last year, Sanders had to do major renovations on his house when Hurricane Irma came through. Sanders said he's doing all he can now to keep his home dry.

“Getting dams, sump-pumps, putting up seawalls, trying to do anything we can do. We saw the water the water came in last year. Try to block it up,” he said. He's even ordered a custom-made barricade to install around his property.

Just down the street, Angela Zwarycz is also worried. “The water comes up a little bit more with the rain, so with the afternoon rainstorms it may come up higher,” she said.

Her kids used to play soccer on a field behind her house, now it has become part of the lake.

“It will go back down,” Zwarycz said, “it's just the rainy season and the hurricane season, but it'll go back down. “

Drainage ditches around here are all filled with brown, bad-smelling water. The National Weather service has issued a river flood warning for this area and the county has issued a boating advisory along the Saint John’s River. Seminole County says they're sending surveyors to this neighborhood to develop a plan over the next couple of weeks on how to keep the floodwaters down.