Brevard County flooding concerns: Homeowners demand fixes, moratorium

Mims residents demand fixes for constant flooding issues

Tired residents think its "absurd" that drains aren't being fixed after multiple storms flood their areas and won't drain. FOX 35's Esther Bower reported that residents ask for the area to be "de-mucked" to allow for more water to flow. Brevard County Commissioner Katie Delaney wants engineers to study flooding in an area before a rezoning goes through, Bower reported.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Homeowners say over the last 20 years, flooding has only increased and keeps getting worse. 

Now, they're asking for help as a Brevard County councilwoman is trying to track down ditches that need to be unclogged. 

What we know:

Following heavy rains in October, residents in North Brevard started posting on social media about flooding concerns. Many residents went weeks with standing water in their yards and started sharing photos online of the issue. 

Homeowners are worried nothing is being done to handle new growth when it comes to maintenance and infrastructure. Instead, developments keep getting approval without proper oversight and studies, they claim. 

Some North Brevard residents have standing water on their property after heavy rains.

The backstory:

In some areas of Brevard County, 11 inches of rain were dumped in a matter of days throughout October. 

FOX 35 reported on road and neighborhood flooding multiple days this month across the county. It’s been something that’s affected numerous drivers and residents in several different areas of the Space Coast.

A dog overlooks flooding in North Brevard from a deck. 

'It’s gotten worse and worse and worse'

What they're saying:

Edgewater in Volusia County passed a moratorium this year to address flooding and stop new construction. 

Brevard residents said they'd like to see something like that happen on the Space Coast. District 1 County Commissioner Katie Delaney said she's open to the idea, but said that would be hard to pass across the county.

What residents are saying: 

Homeowners are asking for help and for growth to slow down. They're concerned that although there haven't been any recent hurricanes, flooding is still occurring in the region.

"It’s gotten worse and worse and worse," John Buck, a North Brevard resident who's impacted by flooding, said. 

Timothy Wagner – also a North Brevard resident impacted by flooding – said, "We probably had more water than we’ve ever had, even during a hurricane."

What the county commissioner says: 

Delaney is trying to track down ditches that need to be unclogged. 

Staffing is way below for the county maintenance in North Brevard, Delaney said. There’s only one crew maintaining all ditches and stormwater systems in her district, she said. 

She’s also working on more proactive approaches, including: engineers researching flooding before a re-zone is approved, trying to get the St. John’s River de-mucked so it can hold more floodwater and looking into the overall expenses of maintaining drainage ditches in the county. 

Delaney said she won’t vote to approve new builds in her district if the community has concerns or pushes back. She would support a building moratorium, but isn’t sure she’d have the votes to pass it in the county.

"I would probably be the one vote to do that," Delaney said.