After Flood Damage, Palm Bay Resident Starts Over as Neighbors Rally to Help

PALM BAY, Fla. – Nine days after floodwaters tore through a Palm Bay neighborhood, residents say the damage continues to disrupt their lives and the cleanup remains far from finished.

On Wednesday, News 6 revisited California Avenue, where water climbed to mailbox level last week and prompted rescues from flooded homes.

Waterlogged furniture and personal belongings now line the curbs and fill front yards. Resident Brittany Grant said the debris represents people’s lives, left scattered and still piled up more than a week after the flood.

“It’s everybody’s lives,” she said.

Grant was rescued from her Brevard County home during the worst of the flooding after climbing onto her kitchen counter and waiting for help to arrive.

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“This is insane, my whole house is flooded,” Grant said in a video recorded as the water rose.

She is now removing drywall, carrying debris to dumpsters and working to stop mold from spreading through the home.

Grant said the past week and a half has passed in a blur.

“My main priority was obviously my child and my dogs,” Grant said. “I was able to throw a couple guitars here and some artwork there. But you’re not thinking, you’re just kind of doing. And that’s what this whole situation has been, honestly, is just doing. Somehow, someway.”

With no definite timetable for government assistance, Grant turned to social media to seek support.

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The same way strangers on paddleboards and kayaks helped rescue Grant and her son, another person she had never met arrived to help with the recovery.

Arnel Alicea, a local handyman, said the flooding moved him to act. He has continued coming back to help other residents as they work through the damage.

“Government has to organize, you need to give them time to work through their processes,” he said. “We all wish it was a little faster, but the people that show up are people that are going to be your neighbors,” Alicea said. “I’m a big believer in community and a village, and I believe that if you reach out to people and you just talk to them, that they’re willing to help.”

Outside Grant’s home, flood-damaged belongings—including surfboards and Halloween decorations—were spread across the lawn.

Grant said she has not yet returned to sleep at the house. Instead, she makes daily trips to keep the cleanup going.

When asked whether she had flood insurance, Grant said, “Nobody had flood insurance here. Nobody. There was never a flood here before.”

While clearing out the house, Grant discovered an unexpected survivor: a fortune cookie that remained dry on the floor. Its message read, “The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.”

“It was just sitting there,” she said. “It was like definitely some sort of strange synchronicity. It’s a process of letting go, and it’s like forced letting go. You have to do it all at once.”

Grant has kept track of everyone who has offered help since the flooding. The list includes 40 names and continues to grow.

She said it may be months before she is able to move back home permanently.