For some families in Deerfield Beach, Florida, flooding has become less of a one-time disaster and more of a recurring disruption. Residents say the latest round of water damage could push one household's total time out of its home to about a year in just six years.
Here's what to know
After flooding on Oct. 17, homeowners in one Deerfield Beach neighborhood spent the day dealing with water that had entered their homes, leaving rooms soaked and piles of damaged belongings along the street. Neighbors told WSVN the flooding is part of a problem they say has persisted for years.
Thomas Noland said the damage in his home was extensive.
"All of our furniture is waterlogged. All of our flooring is completely saturated. All of our cabinets are soaked. Our refrigerator stopped working," he said. "We had about, probably, three to four inches throughout the entire house. And some of the rooms that sit closer to the road, we had six to seven inches."
At Noland's house, the floodwater also reached beneath the vinyl flooring.
Residents on the street said this was the third time their homes had flooded in six years.
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"Every time it rains for the past three years, I can't. I'm so stressed out because I never know if it's going to flood," homeowner Jillian Lerner said.
More background
Lerner said her family moved back in during March after dealing with previous flood damage, but on Oct. 17 another five inches of water got inside.
"We've been out of our house a total of eight months for the first two floods. And now, it's probably going to be four more months. So out of six years, we'll be out of the house for a year," Lerner told WSVN.
"My children, I had to move them up to higher beds. They were on the low beds; they have a bunk bed. We moved them to our bed. Everything was damaged; all of our furniture is gone," she added.
What's being done?
Residents have been pressing city leaders over the flooding for years and plan to raise the issue again at the Oct. 20 commission meeting.
They are urging local officials to address what they believe is an ongoing problem that keeps affecting their street.
Each flood brings new costs, from replacing furniture and repairing flooring to paying to live elsewhere for months.
Residents say officials need to confront the pattern itself. After three floods in six years, they argue that cleanup alone is no longer enough if the same homes continue to take on water.
"This problem is not going away, as you can see," Noland said.
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