HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — An area in Valrico is still underwater nearly two weeks after Hurricane Milton.
"It's day 12 today, and we really need the help,” said Marie Maughan.
Maughan stood at the end of a flooded road in her Featherock mobile home community in Valrico, near water that’s a reminder of Hurricane Milton's aftermath.
"Some of our families have not been able to return home yet after the hurricane because of the flooding,” said Maughan.
Concerned neighbors contacted ABC Action News because part of this area was still underwater days after the storm.
"We are working with the county to try to get help, and we're asking them to think outside of the box to remove this water and put it where it needs to go, and if they have to go outside of their normal protocols, we ask them to please do that and help us with our community,” said Maughan.
The water in the Featherock community butts up to the flooded area that leads to North Valrico Road.
Video shows how high the water still was as of Monday morning, submerging cars and impacting nearby businesses.
"Basically what we've got is a water traffic jam, so the water from all of these different areas hasn't had anywhere to go,” said Josh Bellotti, the Engineering and Operations Director for Hillsborough County Public Works.
We took those concerns to Hillsborough County officials to find out what's happening in this area and what's being done to help.
"The outfall for that area is Lake Valrico, and Lake Valrico is still staged up to a level where we have homes along the lake that are flooded, so we can't yet pump out of that area until we have some more receding of the waters in Lake Valrico,” said Bellotti.
Bellotti also responded to viewer concerns over a nearby retention pond.
"The county doesn't drain or release water from its ponds,” he said. “Probably what they're observing is the ponds in that area overtopping because they're so full because the outfall of those ponds into Lake Valrico is also full, so that entire area remains flooded because of those downstream conditions unfortunately."
Bellotti said they'll continue to monitor and look for ways to mitigate flooding. Based on downstream conditions, they stand ready to step in as soon as they can pump.
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