Buckingham community works to stop flooding

Days of rain have brought this community’s frustrations to a head, and they said they’re going to do something about it.

We showed you how roads flooded in the rain last week, and there are still leftovers in Buckingham Park.

The community is telling us that this could have been prevented. The neighborhood called a meeting for Monday night, saying if there’s no action now, it’s going to get worse.

​Neighbors want to make a plan to get the county to take action to prevent this from happening again.

Water was sitting around for days, and it was still there days after the flooding.

This flyer was posted in neighborhood and Facebook groups and invited neighbors to come to the Buckingham Park pavilion on Monday evening.

It said, “We as a community need to address this now and be heard by the county in order to prevent future issues.”

Derek Felder from Lehigh Acres was at the meeting.

“We feel like we need to take things in our own hands,” Felder said.

Neighbors worry that their streets will flood again. What if there’s a bigger storm?

“When a hurricane comes, we get a substantial amount of rain in a short amount of time, and that’s when the flooding happens. It creates dangerous situations,” Felder said.

Neighbors said preventable things like clogged pipes and shallow canals need to be addressed by those in charge.

“I have yet to see the city come around and clean the canals,” said Pedro Delina, Lehigh resident.

“They haven’t done anything to address the problems we have,” said Janie McCarty, Buckingham resident.

Neighbors won’t stop till something is done, passing out flyers and holding meetings, determined to make their voices heard.

“The water needs to go somewhere; they need to take care of it now before the problem gets to a point where there’s no way back,” Delina said.

We asked Lee County about their concerns. A spokesperson sent us a statement saying the ditches and swales may hold water for some time after heavy rain and that it will take some time to drain.

The county also wants people to report blocked drains. Click here for more information.

Neighbors are meeting at Buckingham Park at 7:30 p.m.