A Sanford family is getting the sandbags ready again after heavy rain sent water across Michigan Avenue behind their home and toward the front of their property from a separate drainage problem Wednesday.
Charles Van Zandt lives along Michigan Avenue, west of Interstate 4 near the St. Johns River.
Photos from his family show water around the property Wednesday. Video they recorded Sunday shows water rushing across a private road in front of the home and 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.”
Behind the home, water also spilled out of roadside ditches and across Michigan Avenue Wednesday.
Seminole County Assistant County Engineer Joseph LoFaso said flooding along the county-owned road has been a problem 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 the road. LoFaso said the project is currently in the design phase and would rework the ditch system and upgrade culverts to help move more water through the corridor.
There is not yet a firm date for construction.
But Van Zandt said that project would only address part of what his family is dealing with.
He said the water threatening the front of his home comes through a separate drainage area along a private road. Van Zandt said the county has told him that area is private property. He argues runoff from nearby developments is contributing to the problem.
Van Zandt said water reached his house Wednesday before eventually draining down. With additional rain expected, he brought home a truckload of sand and is preparing to fill bags.
“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, he said his family is preparing for the next round of rain while hoping the sandbags will be enough.