SANFORD, Fla. – A Sanford family is preparing to stack sandbags once again after heavy rain sent water flowing across Michigan Avenue behind their home and toward the front of the property from a separate drainage issue Wednesday.
Charles Van Zandt lives along Michigan Avenue, west of Interstate 4 and near the St. Johns River.
Photos taken by his family show floodwater surrounding the property Wednesday. Video recorded Sunday shows water rushing over a private road in front of the home before running down the driveway toward the house.
“It bottles up right here,” Van Zandt said. “It just flows over the road and then it goes down our driveway, and so there’s really nothing we can do about it.”
Water also overflowed from roadside ditches behind the home and spread across Michigan Avenue on Wednesday.
Seminole County Assistant County Engineer Joseph LoFaso said flooding on the county-owned road has persisted for years.
“Michigan Avenue is an area which has experienced historic flooding for years,” LoFaso said.
The county is working with FEMA on a drainage improvement project for Michigan Avenue. LoFaso said the project remains in the design phase and would reshape the ditch system and replace or upgrade culverts to help carry more stormwater through the area.
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Officials have not set a firm construction date.
Van Zandt said the planned work would address only one part of the flooding affecting his family.
He said water threatening the front of the house is coming through a separate drainage area along a private road. According to Van Zandt, the county has told him that the area is privately owned. He believes runoff from nearby developments is adding to the flooding.
Van Zandt said water reached the house Wednesday before eventually receding. With more rain in the forecast, he had a truckload of sand delivered and is getting ready to fill sandbags.
“Once we get another torrential downpour for an hour, this will be ankle-deep water,” Van Zandt said. “And then we’ll have water up against the house again.”
For now, the family is preparing for the next round of heavy rain and hoping the sandbags will provide enough protection.
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