CAPE CORAL — A Cape Coral woman tells us she got into a serious accident due to flooding in her neighborhood.
Now people living on SE 9th Ter. are calling on the City to do something about the drainage there.
Carol Morris said she was coming home from church and didn’t realize how deep the water was.
"I came down the road and turned, and when I turned, the car just went right into the swale," said Morris.
She stayed in the car, worried if she got out more water would come in.
"The water then came in through the bottom of the car. It was very scary," said Morris.
Now the marks on her lawn and her mail box show where the accident happened, but this isn’t the first time neighbors living on SE 9th Ter. have been concerned about the water.
In September, Chris Doyon brought a petition before City Council telling them about the issue.
"I’m speechless, I really am. I can’t believe I’m dealing with this again," said Doyon.
Doyon showed us dead fish left in his neighbor’s yard from the flooding, and we talked with one kid who has a kayak he uses when it floods.
"It’s deep, and the only way to get to my neighbor’s house is by kayaking," said Jace Kelso.
But Doyon said Morris’ crash made him realize how serious this could be.
"Say little Jace, the kid in the kayak was out there, guess what, we’ve got a dead child now," said Doyon.
The City said it is working on improving the drainage in the neighborhood, saying "The competitive solicitation process is underway. The City plans to hire a contractor to complete the work."
But Doyon said he just wants the City to come out and clear the drain again.
"They need to maintain these drains because they’re obviously undersized and they’re getting clogged," said Doyon.
Part of the problem in that neighborhood is that a nearby housing development, called Celebration Cape, has a wall behind it that is in violation with the South Florida Water Management District. That wall allows water to run underneath it down onto SE 9th Ter.
The Water Management District tells us the housing development is working with them to fix that issue.
