Central Florida neighborhood prepares for Tropical Storm Isaias after history of flooding

Flood prone areas are preparing for rain as Tropical Storm Isaias nears

The neighborhood has flooded many times during inclement weather in the past.

7/30/2020 - Neighbors in the Orlovista community are gearing up for the threat of Tropical Storm Isaias this weekend.

“We’re just really hoping we don’t get it here this year,” Veronica Vera told FOX 35. Orange County’s Storm Water Management team brought in two portable pumps to her neighborhood to move as much water as possible out of Orlovista’s retention ponds.

In the midst of Hurricane Irma, dozens of people living in Orlovista had to be saved by emergency crews after the pumps controlling the retention pond system failed, causing streets and homes to flood fast in the dark of night.

“It looked like an ocean,” Vera said. Her home is built up higher than most surrounding it, and even then, the water was all the way up her driveway, inches from coming into her garage.

With the threat of a storm in the midst of the pandemic, Vera’s family is making sure they are prepared just in case. They already picked up sandbags "a couple of weeks ago. We went and we got it the first day,” she said.

Orange County has a multi-million dollar stormwater management project in the works to fix the flooding issues in Orlovista for good. Neighbors tell FOX 35 that it can’t happen fast enough. Vera said that “I hope they will let us know when they will start work on this plan."