A family on Stone Island in Deltona said the flood waters from Hurricane Irma are not receding fast enough along the St. Johns river.
The high water has surrounded their home and has led to several alligators camping out right in their front yard.
Those who live there feel like the county has forgotten about them, but county officials said there’s not much they can do at this point.
Angela Macaluso said the alligators have become aggressive recently, and one lunged at her.
She said she is scared for her and her children's lives each time they leave their home.
Inconvenience is also a big hassle for her.
For her and her kids to use the bathroom, they must get in her truck and go across the street.
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The county set up portable toilets since lift stations are down because of the flooding.
"Everybody thinks the hurricane is over. It's not over here, for us," Macaluso said.
She said there are several alligators that have made the waters around her house their new home.
At night, the waters are even more frightening.
She snapped a picture of several gators surrounding her home with their eyes peeping above the water.
"It's almost like a murderer is sitting outside your house waiting,” she said. “There were four or five last night waiting outside your house to get you."
She said a gator tried to attack her.
"It lunged at me and I didn't know I could run so fast,” said Macaluso said.
She said before she bought her home, the county told her flooding was not an issue.
“They said, ‘Oh yeah, it had some flooding before but since last hurricane, we fixed it and it won't happen again.’ But this is not fixing it,” she said.
In an email, a spokesperson for Volusia County said there are 37 properties along the St. Johns River that had flooding.
"These homes were developed prior to many of the county's flood zone regulations being put in place. Unfortunately, now these areas are being inundated with flooding levels not seen in some time.”
Muck-out teams will go to the affected areas to help clean out the home.
That could still be several weeks.
Cox Media Group
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