HOLLY HILL, Fla. – Many cities in Volusia County have seen record flooding from Milton, including Holly Hill. Mayor Chris Via told News 6 the storm brought the worst and most damaging flooding in city history.
“We put all the sandbags down, we bought these quick dam bags, some of them didn’t do anything. We boarded up with the shutters and you can only hope for the best, but this is horrible to have to go through this,” said resident Ellen B.
Many residents told News 6 they could not prepare enough for the amount of water. Many homes on Friday were still under several feet of water. Via said the canals throughout the city were filled and with the high tides, there was little place for them to drain, leaving a lot of the stormwater without a place to go, too.
With water in the roads, residents said they now have to deal with the flooding currently in their homes, and the water drivers are pushing into it by creating a wake.
“As we’re cleaning and saving the rooms that didn’t have water that we put our things in from the other room, now those are getting inundated so now we lost more,” said resident Danielle Latona.
Holly Hill Police Chief Byron Williams told News 6 his officers are doing what they can to alert drivers.
“It’s very difficult because we don’t have any actual statute to cover that! It’s a big disservice to them to the residents here, they’re inconsiderate when they come through,” he said, “It could be a lack of education, and they don’t realize the destruction that it causes. We’re trying to enforce it the best we can but there’s little to nothing we can do when it comes down to a specific statute.”
Williams said if you don’t live on or just off of a street that has even a little flooding, don’t drive down it. If you do live there, drive five miles per hour or less to avoid a big wake.
Via said because of the mass flooding across the city, they ran out of signs to stop drivers from going on residential streets if they don’t live there, but are working to get more from the state.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: