WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A vicious storm ripped through Palm Beach County Tuesday causing flash flooding. Dozens of cars broke down trying to make it through.
“I think it was 45 minutes to an hour where we were just inundated with heavy, heavy rain,” said Annie Harrison Nelson, who lives in West Palm Beach.
As consistent as the Florida summer rain, is the flooding in and around the Roosevelt Estates neighborhood in West Palm Beach.
“It happens every time we have torrential rains,” she said.
For people like Harrison Nelson, who is the president of the neighborhood association, and Victor Luster, they’re frustrated.
“The city has not done much to alleviate the problem over the past 40 years,” she said.
“We are telling people now that it’s bad,” said Luster. “Australian (Blvd) has been bad for years. I used to work for the city in the 80’s. It’s always been a flood zone and here it is in 2019 and it’s no better.”
The city told WPTV they are re-grading the swales in the neighborhood, so they can fit more water. Along the service road, they’re adding new drainage structures. They also highlighted their capital improvement projects that are already underway across the city. More than $1.1 million worth of work to handle storm water.
For residents, fixes can’t come soon enough.
“We have everything that we need in this neighborhood, so I love it here, I want to stay here but I want the flooding alleviated in here,” Harrison Nelson said.
In 2018, the city replaced the aerator pump at Westward Park.
Click here to track capital improvements projects.
