PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A round of strong storms that pushed through Palm Beach County on Monday evening left a western Lake Worth community with some clean up.
Roads were underwater in Tropical Country Estates on Lyons Road. Homeowners said it's the worst they've ever seen and they think they know why.
Neighbors on Artist Place said the road was completely flooded with inches and inches of water, something they've never seen before.
Residents believe part of the problem is the widening of Lyons Road to accommodate the new Dr. Joaquín García High School.
Cell phone video showed what Artist Place looked like after torrential downpours Monday evening. It was a scary sight for Christian Goss.
"Every time they would drive down, it would push all the water into my yard, up into my porch. So flooding issues really bad," Goss said.
The Halloween enthusiast had all his decorations up, some of them now washed out.
"The pumpkin spider I was building. The vampire fell off the roof. This guy is missing some legs. No clue where they went," Goss said.
Neighbors in this family friendly community in western Lake Worth called Monday's flooding the worst they've seen in decades.
"We’ve been through back-to-back hurricanes, many tropical storms, just summer rains, and I’ve never seen anything like that before," neighbor Monica Folmer said.
Many residents told WPTV they believe it's related to the work done to widen Lyons Road, leaving the water from fast, heavy rains with nowhere else to go.
"This is our home and we love it and it’s a perfect neighborhood for families," Folmer said. "There are three schools within walking distance. But we can’t do this every time it rains."
"The water was all the way up. You can see, still a little squishy. But yeah, it was not pleasant," Goss said.
As Goss continued to clean up, he said maybe next year he'll wait a little longer to put up decorations so he doesn't get spooked.
"Everything was everywhere," Goss said.
Some neighbors said they spoke to the county roads department, which is going to look into the issue.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter, who represents western Lake Worth, released the following statement to WPTV on the matter:
"We want to make sure that our residents feel safe, and we will get with the appropriate body to address the issue appropriately. The only way to help is to start asking questions, and accurately identify the root cause of the issue."
