Manatee County residents voice concerns during community flooding and development forum: 'There's still water'

Community flooding forum in Manatee County

Jennifer Kveglis reports.

PARRISH, Fla. - Manatee County residents, environmentalists, and activists hosted a community flooding and development forum following record flooding in communities during Hurricane Debby.

Hundreds filled the Parrish United Methodist Church on Saturday evening to listen to multiple speakers. Residents were in attendance for a variety of reasons.

"There's still so many questions. Things that people don't understand," said Stacy Jessee, Co-Founder of the East Manatee Preservation Association.

Parrish resident Anna Ritzenthaler said things have not improved since Debby. She said with afternoon showers, her community can't catch a break.

"We still have a lot of flooding. There's still water. It's completely saturated," she shared.

READ: Mote Marine documents impacts from Debby on Sarasota Bay

With the exception of her home, almost everything on her property was destroyed.

"We lost chickens. We lost tools. Our shed was completely destroyed," said Ritzenthaler.

Dalton Nelson was a guest speaker at the forum.

"What has changed? The water in our area has been very predictable," he said. "They come up with good excuses, but those excuses are only good for so long."

Jessee hopes for infrastructure improvements.

READ: Manatee officials tour Lake Manatee Dam site amid flooding concerns from residents

"We need you to update our storm water systems. We need you to hold developers accountable," she said. "Make it so that the people who have been here aren't the ones who suffer from new developments."

Parrish resident Patty Wild hopes for better communication from the County during severe weather. She said during Debby she received evacuation orders to her phone after nearby roads were already flooded.

"When I got it, it said, 'For more information, call 311' and so I called them and when I called them, they said that means to evacuate immediately. And I'm like how I am supposed to do that?" said Wild.

In a previous County Commission meeting, officials did admit that the county’s communication with downstream residents could be updated moving forward.

"We are fully sympathetic, and we know that there’s real suffering for many of the residents who experienced flooding throughout the storm and subsequent rainfall events," said Evan Pilachowski, Manatee County Deputy County Administrator.

Manatee County residents impacted by Debby can visit a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at the Lakewood Ranch Library. For more information, click here.

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