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Seffner neighborhood dealing with alligators and flooded roads after Hurricane Milton

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Published  October 16, 2024 5:04pm EDT
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News

Seffner residents spotted gators after Milton

Ariel Plasencia reports.

SEFFNER, Fla. - Residents in Seffner said they need help dealing with flooded roads and alligators in their neighborhood one week after Hurricane Milton.

Some streets in the Shangri La neighborhood off U.S. 92 are completely underwater. Residents said they made signs, warning drivers of the high water. But on Wednesday, FOX 13 watched Hillsborough County Fire-Rescue crews rescue a couple after they drove their vehicle into the floodwaters and got stuck.

"And the water is steadily rising. It’s rising every day," longtime resident Kristy Sloan said.

Since Milton made landfall last Wednesday, Shangri La residents said they’ve watched the water rise on their roads and in their homes and yards. Some of the residents’ backyards have become an extension of the lake, which sits in the middle of the neighborhood and is also where several alligators live.

"The gator shows up to our back door. We just now witnessed him swimming across the backyard back out into the lake," Sloan said.

And with the gators getting so close to their homes, residents are now concerned about their safety.

READ: 'It's unprecedented': Withlacoochee River expected to crest Thursday

"Getting attacked. Getting eaten by the gator. I threw a snake out of my house the other night in the hallway," Sloan said. "If we could get some help. And somebody to pump this water out of our lake."

READ: Palmetto community in need of help after back-to-back hurricanes: 'Paradise is caving in on me'

In a statement Wednesday, Hillsborough County officials described "Lake Shangri La and the surrounding community" as a "bowl," meaning water has nowhere to go naturally.

Before the storm, a portable pump was pumping water out of the lake and into Baker Creek. But before Milton hit, county staff said they removed this pump – and so many others like it across the county -- so it wouldn’t get damaged.

According to officials, the county has to get approval for temporary stormwater pumping in emergency events.

However, after Milton brought record rainfall and historic flooding to our rivers, creeks, and tributaries, the county said there is nowhere to pump the water from this neighborhood’s lake right now.

"No matter what the level of the lake is, we cannot pump stormwater if there is nowhere downstream to pump, meaning if the destination of Baker Creek is flooded," the county said in a statement.

County officials said they are aware of the situation in the Shangri La neighborhood and that portable pumps are ready to be deployed when conditions allow.

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