ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A drainage project in the Orlo Vista neighborhood is nearing completion that will bring much-needed relief to residents.
“We never had anything until Ian. We lost everything. We lost a lot of stuff and we had to rebuild from scratch,” said Orlo Vista Resident Leda Fernandez.
Fernandez said she and her husband are still recovering two years after Hurricane Ian flooded their home.
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“He’s still doing something in the back of the house. We had to fix the inside so now the outside is what we have to finish,” Fernandez said.
The community saw waist-deep floodwater during Hurricane Ian. That’s why they’ve been waiting on this Orange county project to wrap up.
The county has been working on this project for the past two years. They’re trying to expand the retention pond and add new pumps.
Orange County officials say the project was supposed to be completed in February but it was delayed. Now the project is 95% complete.
“We have completed the excavation and the installation of the geo web. The system has been almost finished. It’s working as designed,” said Project Manager Liliana Ramirez
Ramirez said they’ve increased the depth by 12 feet and the retention pond can now protect against a 100 year storm event, holding 14 inches of rain in 72 hours.
“Irma was almost a 100-year-storm event. Ian was a little higher. We’re gonna be able to keep the water to a 100-year-storm event,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez said the only thing is left to do is install an electrical building at the site. She said the project could fully be completed by spring 2025.
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