Lee County focuses on flexible plan for flood mitigation in neighborhoods

We spoke to Lee County officials about the plan the county is designing to mitigate flooding and standing water issues after Eta, as a tropical storm, brought lots of it to areas such as Lehigh Acres and Buckingham to start the week.

For families in Lehigh Acres, Eta is to blame for its latest round of flooding. But Lee County Board of County Commissioners knows it is a chronic problem in lots of neighborhoods.

“You’re buying a property in an area that’s flat, that used to be a swamp,” Commissioner Brian Hamman said.

County leaders say the time is now to improve these conditions for communities.

“I think that’s the ultimate goal, to get rid of standing water in the roadway, probably never gonna happen,” said Dave Harner, the deputy Lee County manager. “But the goal would be to limit that duration.”

County leaders looked over a flood plan developed by engineers. The foundation of the plan is its flexibility. The idea is there is no set formula for the entire county because there are unique situations.

During the commissioners meeting county leaders focused on finding a way to prioritize projects and get to work as soon as possible, so they can get to everyone as soon as possible.

“Our goal is to do enough projects over the next several years to avoid catastrophic flooding,” said Roger Desjarlais, the Lee County manager.

MORE: Lee County Flooding Information