ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orlo Vista residents say enough is enough. After years of complaints about flooding issues in the area, the damage done by Hurricane Ian’s rains is the final straw.
“People are terrified,” Orlo Vista resident Burnett Toney said. “Don’t nobody want to be out here.”
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People who live in the area say they’ve been sounding the alarm about these issues for years.
“We keep getting promise after promise nothing has been done,” Toney said.
Read: Orlo Vista residents want change after flooding from Hurricane Ian
Toney said Ian’s floodwaters flipped over his refrigerator so it was floating and ruined all of his mother’s furniture.
“She done lost everything. All her new bedroom, dresser everything. Forget about it. The TVs. It’s gone,” he said.
Wath: Orange County: Flooding torments Orlo Vista community again
Orlo Vista resident Kemisha Louis said the damage from Ian was worse than Hurricane Irma in 2017.
“This hurricane we lost everything,” Louis said.
The flooding has Louis ready to move out of not only the neighborhood, but the state.
“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “Like it’s to a point where I don’t want to stay in Florida anymore like I just want to leave.”
Watch: Orange County: Flooding torments Orlo Vista community again
Neighbors in the tight-knit community are coming together, collecting donations of clothes, food and more to help those in need.
“We grew up in this neighborhood. We’re all one,” resident Kiki Hines said.
People in the neighborhood said they hope Orange County leaders will take the action needed to avoid floods in the future.
Read: Central Florida counties are providing FEMA assistance after Ian
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said it’s going to be costly, but they are committed to making improvements.
Orange County officials said public works workers were in Orlo Vista before the storm, working to lower the water levels, but it didn’t help.
The county said it is committed to making improvements, but people in the neighborhood say they’ve heard that before.
“There’s too many times that this happened and we keep getting promise after promise nothing has been done,” resident Angel Hart Thompson said.
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