ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Four days after Hurricane Ian ripped through central Florida, one Orange County community is still dealing with flooding and power outages.
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People living in Orlo Vista say it stems from a problem with the stormwater pump.
Read: Central Florida counties are providing FEMA assistance after Ian
Residents said this is a problem that has been going on for years and that it floods nearly every time it rains.
When Ian hit, the water reached several feet high.
Wath: Orange County: Flooding torments Orlo Vista community again
There are still several inches of water sitting on some of these streets.
Residents said the problem is that water overflows from a lake just down the street, and the stormwater system isn’t equipped to handle massive amounts of water.
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One man’s house was severely damaged by floodwaters. The rugs are still soaked with water and his family’s cars were also destroyed.
He said it ruined all of his mother’s furniture.
Read: Central Florida counties provide updates for trash collection after Hurricane Ian
Orange County said Public Works teams were in Orlo Vista ahead of the storm working to lower the water levels since it does have a history of flooding.
But it wasn’t enough to stop it from happening again.
Orange County said it is committed to making improvements, but people in the community said they have heard it before.
“There’s too many times that this happened and we keep getting promise after promise nothing has been done,” said Angel Hart Thompson, an Orlo Vista resident.
Hart Thompson and Kiki Hines organized around 50 volunteers from the community to help each other while they wait for county officials to make a permanent fix. They have collected donations of clothes and food to help those in need.
People said they need more help from the county to get this fixed, and that while they’re frustrated that they haven’t gotten enough help from the county, neighbors are stepping up to help each other in the meantime.
“We grew up in this neighborhood,” Hines said. “We’re all one.”
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