After heavy rain hit Indiantown, Florida, some residents said their streets looked more like swimming pools than roads. Floodwater spread across neighborhoods, submerging roadways, entering homes and cars, and leaving some people to bail out vehicles by hand.
Here's what to know
In Booker Park, CBS12 reported the damage also raised a bigger question: how this could still happen after millions had already been spent on drainage upgrades.
Cell phone footage showed Booker Park neighborhoods sitting in inches of standing water as residents used kitchen pots to empty their cars, as the network's video report showed.
The storm dropped about 4 inches of rain in parts of Indiantown, and residents said the fast-rising water blocked roads and pushed into homes and vehicles.
"It was a disaster," Indiantown Councilman Anthony Dowling told CBS12. "It was really a disaster."
Dowling, who lives near the affected area, said he spent much of the time helping neighbors remove water from their homes and vehicles.
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"We couldn't even walk here on Saturday. The water was literally up to the knees," Dowling said. "And if you look at some of the homes, you can still see the water line of the homes."
At the village council meeting, the station reported that residents vented their frustration over the flooding.
"People are losing their homes, and there was never any outcry from the village," a resident said.
As someone who has lived in the area his whole life, Dowling told CBS12, "I don't think we have seen anything like this ever here in Indiantown."
More background
Questions have also centered on a 2020 drainage project in Booker Park, where the village spent more than $2 million on swales and culverts intended to reduce flood risk.
Dowling intimated to the outlet that years of neglected maintenance, not the drainage infrastructure itself, are to blame.
"I believe that the previous council did not; that was not one of their priorities," he said.
When storms moved through the area again more recently, Indiantown avoided the widespread flooding seen earlier. Some streets and sidewalks still had standing water, but CBS12 noted conditions had improved significantly.
What's being done?
As Florida's rainy season continues, village leaders say they are trying to prevent another flooding event. Dowling plans to join public works crews as they inspect drainage systems across the village, per the station.
Dowling said he helped secure $2.3 million in state funding.
"I'm ready to put my boots on, literally, and go up there again to ask for more money so that this community and the neighboring communities can be safe," he told CBS12.
The funding would support drainage improvements across all of Indiantown, not just Booker Park. Residents still cleaning up after the storms remain concerned about whether the village can act quickly enough before the next round of heavy rain arrives.
"We don't know what tomorrow will hold," Dowling concluded to the outlet. "We want to get prepared and help as much as we can in the immediate time."
Where can I learn more?
What happened in Indiantown fits into a broader pattern of storm damage that reaches beyond flooded roads and waterlogged homes. The resulting toll on Florida agriculture, the pressure on homeowners in other regions, and the health impacts can linger long after the water goes down.
• Across Florida, staggering agricultural losses followed Hurricane Milton's destructive path.
• Across the South, homeowners battled winter storm damage as insurance protections came under strain.
• Nationwide, major weather disasters brought higher death rates in the weeks afterward.
• Across the US, survivors faced psychological injuries after disasters that often went untreated.
The fallout from extreme weather helps explain why residents in Indiantown want quicker action before the next storm hits. When communities are left unprepared, the fallout can reach far beyond a single flooded neighborhood.
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