DELRAY BEACH, Fla - A king tide is moving a lot of water inland, creating headaches and heartache for people living along the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach.
RELATED: King tides hit South Florida
Neighbors say this time is the worst they've seen in years.
“We’ve had issues with flooding over the years, but it seems to have gotten worse," said Eugenia Deponte, who has lived on Marine Way in Delray Beach for about 30 years.
This week's king tide has filled her streets and some homes with water.
“It’s annoying but it’s part of what you do living near the beach, ya know?" said neighbor Ed Fitzgerald.
Years of high tides have even made the house in front of Fitzgerald unlivable.
“It destroyed the floors and got mold in the walls," he said.
He lives in a cottage in the back that is raised just enough to prevent water from seeping in. But the saltwater kills his grass and vegetation every time if he doesn't wash it down with fresh water.
“They put in new sod just like six months ago and now it’s all soaked again and will probably die," he said pointing to the front yard.
His next door neighbor's first floor is flooded. She showed video of a coconut floating between their homes, a rare sight as the tide picked up vegetation left over from Hurricane Irma that hasn't been picked up yet.
“It would be nice if they would clean up the rest of the hurricane debris so it doesn’t scatter all over the street," said Fitzgerald. “Thank God the tides only happens a couple of times a year. I mean, I don’t know what the fix is.”
That fix is a new seawall that is in the works. The city of Delray Beach said designs have been approved and more permitting is needed before construction can begin.
“We need it now. We need to know what’s going on, what’s the process," said Deponte. “Not only hurry up on it, we’ve been told nothing about where they are.”
Deponte can't wait for the seawall to be built and she says her patience is running thin. She reinforced her own home by raising it up by about five inches, anything to keep the water out.
“But I can’t build a seawall," she joked. "I cannot build a sea wall. And the city needs to really help this street. It’s been totally neglected for 37 years."
Even though the full moon arrives on Thursday night, the peak tides will hit Sunday morning since the king tide lags behind the full moon by a couple of days.
Some of the roads all up and down the Intracoastal could be impassable for smaller cars, so you'll want to use caution while driving for the next few days.
