POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — One year after Hurricane Milton, which caused homes to be flooded for weeks, residents along Lake Bonny are back home but still concerned about the threat of another disaster.
“This is probably the first time since Hurricane Milton that I’ve had any kind of hope that some municipality is going to take the lead,” Pam Smith said. “I think the county needs to. I don’t think the city is capable.”
Smith may be living in her dry home now, but she does not forget what happened last year and who she blames for it.
“Everything in here was contaminated because it sat in the water for so long,” she said. “It’s still emotional, but we’re blessed that we’re back home.”
Pam and her husband, Chad, lived in a rental for 10 months before returning home in August.
“I can’t tell you what it’s like living in another man’s home and your own home is destroyed,” said Chad Smith.
The Smiths said they do not believe enough has been to protect their home, and their neighbors’ homes, in the future.
“The only reason we’re not flooded this year is by the grace of God and Mother Nature,” she said. “Otherwise, we would have flooded. There has been no safeguards, no short-term fixes.”
The people who live on Lake Bonny have long grown frustrated with the city of Lakeland.
A study by Aecom Technical Services Inc. found the city’s pump, which moves water from Lake Bonny to Lake Parker, was “insufficient.”
A system relying solely on pumps is no solution at all to the Smiths.
“They won’t allow us to pump into Lake Parker if Lake Parker hits a certain level. And it doesn’t take much for Lake Parker to hit that level,” sad Pam Smith. “We can pump and run the pump 24/7 but if SWFWMD has the gate closed that allows the water to go into Lake parker, the water continues to rise.”
The city of Lakeland directed News Channel 8’s interview request to Jay Jarvis, Polk County’s roads and drainage director.
The lake is within city limits, but the pump is operated on county property.
“There’s got to be some cooperation in there, and that’s what we worked to do is we’re trying to work together to come up with solutions,” Jarvis said.
Jarvis said the county is looking into creating a discharge line straight from the pump to Lake Parker, bypassing an existing gravity system.
“So there’s not that restriction from the level at Lake Parker and so it would actually be an open discharge and allow the pump to operate more efficiently,” he said.
Jarvis acknowledged water cannot be pumped into Lake Parker if it’s at capacity.
“You cannot take flood waters from somebody and put them on somebody else,” he said.
The Smiths also want stormwater runoff directed away from Lake Bonny.
“I think that’s where they need to focus on: where can we put that water instead of coming into this small Lake Bonny?” Pam Smith said.
News Channel 8 asked Jarvis if that was a solution being considered.
“Not really,” he said. “The existing system is what came there. So a lot of that system is the natural drainage that’s always gone there.”
Chad Smith also suggested dredging in Lake Bonny to create more storage.
“Anything below a groundwater level, you could dig forever and ever and ever,” Jarvis said. “There’s still going to be water there. It doesn’t create any more storage by dredging, typically.”
Moving forward, the county has applied for two grants — a $11.8 million grant from FEMA and a $100 million grant from the Florida Department of Commerce — to develop and implement stormwater, drainage and conveyance improvements.
“If we had funding available as far as for a big pump system, would we be better off buying, basically, giving people the option to buy people out? Is it cheaper?” Jarvis said.
A buyout, to relocate out of the dream home they just invested money in to renovate, is not an option for the Smiths.
“That’s not in our long-term or short-term,” Pam Smith said. “We had to take an SBA loan that we’re gonna be paying on for 30 years.”
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