Port Orange residents call for action after flooding damages homes, cars

Port Orange residents call for action after flooding

Residents in Port Orange are calling on city and county leaders to address flooding after a Sunday night storm left homes surrounded by water and vehicles damaged.

PORT ORANGE, Fla. - Residents in Port Orange are calling on city and county leaders to address flooding after a Sunday night storm left homes surrounded by water and vehicles damaged.

What we know:

A Sunday night storm left several Port Orange neighborhoods underwater, damaging vehicles and trapping residents in their homes. 

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Brandon Johnson, who lives on Monroe Place, said the floodwaters rose so quickly that he and his family could not leave their house. His car was left partially submerged, with water soaking the interior.

What we don't know:

City and county leaders have not yet said whether they will pursue new drainage projects or other solutions to address recurring flooding in the area. Residents remain uncertain about whether future storms will bring similar or worse damage.

The backstory:

While flooding is not new to Volusia County, residents say the storm’s impact was unusually severe for a non-hurricane event. Johnson said he had never seen water rise that high in his five years at the property. Neighbor Margaret Spry said the flooding has her considering leaving altogether.

What they're saying:

The storm struck Sunday evening, with water quickly rising in residential areas.

"We couldn’t get out the house, couldn’t go get food, couldn’t leave, couldn’t do nothing," Johnson said.

By the next morning, residents were dealing with waterlogged cars and homes while neighbors began voicing demands for long-term fixes.

"To move out. You know, it’s going to happen and happen and happen," said Spry. "It’s only going to get worse and worse."

"The larger problem is displacing all of the rainwater when we have major rains and storms from development," said Volusia County Council at-large candidate Michael Poniatowski. "The development scheme right now is to drain, raise, fill and build."

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