ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Residents of Orlo Vista received an update on a flood mitigation project on Tuesday, with community leaders explaining how it’s coming along.
The Orange County neighborhood was the site of severe flooding during Hurricane Ian in 2022 — and Hurricane Irma in 2017.
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Orange County Commissioner Mike Scott said that even though the project won’t be finished until the summer of 2024, there are measures the county is taking to help with the 2023 hurricane season.
“We’re working on capacity as the long-term solution, but the immediate solution is we increased the capacity of pump stations,” Scott said. “We’ve set up earlier warnings, so whereas before it was a three-day warning, it’s now a five-day warning.”
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As part of the project, crews are increasing the capacity of retention ponds and making other upgrade to prevent future flooding.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a $6 million request for a future Orlo Vista flood mitigation project that was set to begin in 2026.
Despite concerns that the veto would impact the current flood mitigation project, Scott ensured the public that the current project would not be impacted by the veto.
“We were hoping to fund (the 2026) project and use general revenue dollars or county dollars elsewhere. It’s not going to impact the (current) project in any way,” he said.
Orlo Vista resident Brian Harris said that the concerns over the funding veto were brought about by misinformation.
“The veto had nothing to do with the mitigation project...” Harris said. “They’re not taking any money from us. This money’s already been allocated.”
Harris added that he feels the project has been coming along nicely.
“They’re doing some really powerful work. It’s moving along very quickly, very steadily,” he said.
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