LEE COUNTY, Fla. — On Friday, FOX 4 came out to Almetta and Birr Street to continue our coverage of the flooded homes in the Iona McGregor neighborhood.
After our story in the Iona McGregor on Thursday night, the Lee County Department of Transportation paid a visit, and the people who live in the neighborhood told us Friday they feel like they're finally being heard.
"There's a drainage pipe that goes under the road right here, and it's insufficient," says an Iona McGregor resident, Rick McGregor.
Butler told FOX 4's Ft Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price he woke up Friday morning and had to clean out debris and other trash that floated into his yard. "Everything that floated away, trash barrels, trash everywhere, you know, like your recyclables and stuff water bottles and track it's all over the place," says Butler.
FOX 4' Bella Line first spoke to Butler on Thursday. He told us he had just finished repairs from Hurricane Ian.
"It's never flooded here," says Butler. "This house was built in 1958 and never had a claim. He has never had a flood claim till Ian, of course, but that's it, and it's due to the building around here because they all came afterward."
WATCH: See what Rick Butler went through Thursday night.
He says the development in his neighborhood in the past two years has changed the rainwater flow. Butler says the water is now redirected to his neighborhood, flooding everything.
After our story about his frustration aired on Thursday, the county paid his neighborhood a visit on Friday. "I had a positive conversation with the DOT and stuff today, which made me feel better," says Butler. "So we're moving ahead in the process."
Butler says a Lee County Department of Transportation representative told him drainage would be replaced starting in July, and Lee County confirmed that date with FOX 4.
"It was almost two years ago I put in a work order, and I assumed that they would be here before the rainy season started this year to fix it," says Butler. Nonetheless, he feels some relief knowing updates are coming.
Butler says he felt relief seeing the whirlpool as we stood in the water. It meant the drains were starting to suck up the water...And hopefully, this will be the last time he has to deal with flood water.
