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Residents urge urgent fixes to culverts and box drains after July 15 storm
Summary
Multiple residents described yards and streets flooded for days after the July 15 storm, prompting council and public works updates about canal cleanups, temporary pumps, and short-term emergency procedures to prevent repeat flooding.
Several residents told the council that culverts and box drains on Mango Tree, Limetree and Queen Palm drives failed to drain after the July 15 rain event, leaving water standing for days and causing health and property concerns.
"Now the water no longer drains out of the culvert and all of our yards quickly backed up with water," said Carmen Wallace (2331 Mango Tree Drive), who asked whether the city has an engineer assigned and requested a plan. Frank Potemski and Carmen Arana corroborated that the same catch basin and notch problem recurred and said debris and changes to the culvert have reduced flow.
In response, Council members and Interim City Manager Mahoney praised public works for deploying new pumps and vac trucks and described a recent cleanup of the Silver Palm canal. Sean Maroney, interim deputy director of public works, said crews removed trees and multiple road crossings to improve flow, and that if a state of emergency occurs crews would "open those boxes up" to prevent flooding then repair them afterward. Council asked staff to explain box culverts and retention-pond functions at the next council meeting and to coordinate with St. Johns Water Management on longer-term remediation.
