POLK COUNTY, Florida. – Roads and homes on Oakmont Lane along Lake Seward were underwater for weeks and homeowners are now wondering if they will rebuild, sell or if they can get help from County of Polk.

Residents spoke at the Polk County Commission meeting Tuesday morning.

“Our house was in six inches of water for three weeks and I walked in alligator sewage,” said Oakmont Lane resident Tracy Boyette. “This was caused by mismanagement by the county and now we’re wondering: what happens next? We want to rebuild, but how can we when we don’t feel safe? We need to know what measures need to be taken be taken to prevent this from happening again.”

Residents shared their concerns with Polk County officials Tuesday after Lake Seward flooded.

County officials say they have been pumping water from the Seward Lake Basin at a rate of 2,500 gallons per minute since last Tuesday, which is expected to remove about three to four inches every 24 hours. And they are now thinking about potential long-term solutions.

“We can’t look at closed ponds in the same way that we know what can happen or at least happened with Milton,” said District 5 Commissioner Neil Combee. “That’s little consolation for the ‘right now, but maybe the solution is if we have 20 houses there, we need to put some sort of system in there to deal with flooding when it happens.”

Some of those solutions include a permanent pump station, an underground force main along Tillary Road, homes bought out by FEMA, which could take years, or even a road raise on Oakmont Lane.

However, Jay Jarvis, the county’s highways and drainage director, says he wants people to understand that pumping systems can’t prevent future flooding.

“In most cases, these pump stations are not going to stop people from flooding,” Jarvis said. “”These systems are more like emergency pumping. Basically the flooding started happening and the water is high and there’s nowhere to go and the system is there to mitigate the flooding.”

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No solutions came out of the commission meeting, but Jarvis says the discussion about what can be done permanently will likely happen in a few weeks.

“Our community deserves more than just sympathy,” Boyette said. “We need action and commitment from our leaders to not only address what is happening, but also to ensure that it does not happen again. I urge you. Do not let our calls for help fall on deaf ears.”

The pump currently on Lake Seward will remain in place until water levels move away from homes, Jarvis said.

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