Punta Gorda still recovering from flooding caused by Debby

Punta Gorda is a city where water always finds a way into the streets. On Sunday and Monday, the city of Punta Gorda closed down several roads as the flooding worked its way into neighborhoods.

Flooding is an issue many deal with in Punta Gorda, especially if you live right near the Peace River, where the water has nowhere else to go.

“This is an ongoing issue that we’ve dealt with for years,” said Mike Polk, who lives on Berry Street, right off of Marion Ave, which sees flooding very frequently. He said the streets weren’t closed fast enough.

“People were coming in and raised trucks driving up and down the streets, creating wakes and adding to the flooding issue. That is not acceptable,” Polk said.

Punta Gorda police echoed Polk by emphasizing the importance of not driving through flooded areas, as it can be life-threatening and cause property damage.

WINK News Reporter Olivia Jean checked out Riverside Drive in unincorporated Punta Gorda. Some spots on the road were over a foot of water.

Those WINK News spoke to said Ian brought wind damage and Idalia brought rain and flooding, which is the same case as Debby but not as bad as Idalia.

Punta Gorda saw storm surges between two to four feet on Sunday, and the police department said they were prepared.

“We started gearing up everybody. We got equipment ready, had extra officers ready for patrol, and things like that,” said Punta Gorda Police Chief Pam Smith.

The real question is: can this flooding be fixed?

The city said they are looking into it and recently inspected the drainage to see if it was clogged. No seawall at the Peace River causes the same areas to flood all the time, especially for properties practically at ground zero.

“Until it kind of recedes, it’s gonna flood there. Just has nowhere else to go,” Chief Smith said.

Mike thinks the flooding is a design issue.

“At this point, we shouldn’t have this type of flooding. This is something that is fixable. It’s the storm drain system. I’ve spoke in front of the city council several times and we’ve met with more than one engineer, and they both the ones that we talked to said it’s fixable; it just needs to be a priority,” Polk said.

City officials are working to fix the issue, but the job isn’t over. The flooding has gotten better, but as of Monday night, it is still an issue on several streets.