Around 90 Fellsmere residents on Saturday gathered outside City Hall to demand answers on how to prevent massive flooding like last month.
While the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast were spared from any hurricanes this season, some areas still look a beating from Mother Nature, including Fellsmere in Indian River County.
“I had to rebuild everything. I lost everything. I even lost my grove because of this," one resident said. "Our entire property flooded."
Another resident, Butch Barnes, said: “My ditch banks failed in front of my home. My property flooded ... I lost animals. My neighbor lost animals.”
WPTV First Alert Weather team estimated that 13 to 14 inches of rain drenched the city from late Nov. 16 into Nov. 17.
The water had flooded most of the city's roads.
"It just overwhelms your drainage system and floods your roads," Police Chief Keith Touchberry told WPTV in November.
“Three and half days for it to start draining and it was because all of the crud and garbage in the ditch was plugging all the pipes and it had nowhere to go it couldn’t move," resident Carl Reis said.
The residents voiced their skepticism about the city dealing with the problem.
“These people are concerned about where their money is going," resident Allen Sembler said. "It’s paid for by tax dollars and they’re not receiving the services for their dollars.”
The group wants to form a property owners' association.
“We’re going to move forward strength in numbers and we’re going to hire an attorney and hold these people accountable for what they’ve been doing to us," Barnes said."
WPTV reached out to the city for a response and hadn't heard back.
