Elizabeth Patterson said she knew they were in trouble when the rains didn’t stop and water started gushing into their Lakeland home.
The rain started around 7 a.m. Monday morning and by 9 a.m. Patterson said there was a foot of water inside.
“Water was coming in from the side, water coming from the road, the back of the house, water was coming in here like mad,” Patterson said.
Patterson says their home flooded last September too. She’s lived in the home for six years and said she’s never had any problems until recently.
“When the county built up that highway and they were supposed to put drainage along here; they didn't do it,” Patterson said. “This house is sitting on the ground and I get all the water, North, South, East, West.”
On Cannon street a few miles away more flooding, more people spending the night somewhere else. At least one home on the street had more than a foot of water inside. The owner told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska overdevelopment and a lack of keeping drainage pipes clear are the culprit.
The Patterson family said they will stay with family until their home is repaired. They have no insurance and are a on a fixed income.
"We can't afford to do anything," Patterson said. "We need help."
We have calls into the county to ask what, if anything, can be done to prevent flooding in these areas in the future.
