HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Two days after Hurricane Milton, Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) helped rescue neighbors in Pemberton Creek between I-4 and Thonotosassa Lake. The ABC Action News I-Team spoke to people in the community as water in nearby lakes and streams continued to rise, trapping people in their homes.

Bryan DiCerb

County leaders then voted to create a task force to determine what caused those lakes and streams to burst their banks and destroy lives and land.

‘You gotta get the people out here’: Neighbors, FWC save people from rising water in Pemberton Creek

“You have to bring people here, you know, like you’re doing now. Let them see what happens,” Jay Bolnick told the I-Team the same day as the rescues. “We went to the county and told them, even before Helene started, that we had such a mess here that — you couldn’t even see the creek, it was so overgrown.”

Jay Bolnick

Bolnick later showed the I-Team emails he and his neighbors sent to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) on Aug. 13, a week after Hurricane Debby.

In the emails, they said, “water levels in the surrounding area are still at ridge level,” they warned, “it has not receded as in the past after heavy rains” and pleaded for “information on what is being done to prevent unnecessary flooding from Baker Creek overflow.”

Then, in the days that followed, they pressed on and asked about “any progress in removing vegetation from the Baker Creek Channel.”

“We would still be flooded. But it wouldn’t be as big,” Bolnick told the I-Team after Milton. “There’s complacency, you know, people just move on to something else, so this time I want action.”

The I-Team reached out to the SFWMD, which said Lake Thonotosassa “…was reduced to the maximum possible amount” before Milton. However, due to historic rainfall, the Flint Creek Water Control Structure was “completely underwater”. When pressed to remove the vegetation early, SFWMD said, “… the district does not maintain these systems,” and directed the I-Team to the FWC and the county.

The FWC has yet to provide a response.

County Commissioner Christine Miller represents the part of Hillsborough, including Pemberton Creek.

WFTS

“When we got here, they were doing active rescues in the community,” Miller said. “It was shocking”

When asked what she wants people in the area to know, who feel they’ve been ignored and not prioritized when it comes to flooding concerns and mitigating nearby creeks, Miller said, “I want them to know that I’m hearing. At least in my department, I know the Board of County Commissioners — it was a unanimous vote.”

That unanimous vote was for the county to bring SFWMD, the city of Tampa, the city of Plant City and property owners like Bolnick together to address the flooding issues.

“We owe it to the leaders 10, 20, 30 years from now that we did something,” Miller said at the meeting.

Bolnick said so far, there’s been “a lot of talking and finger-pointing” and he knows they’re not the only neighborhood in Hillsborough with these issues.

Jay Bolnick

“The person who experienced the flood doesn’t care who owns the ditch that may have caused it. They just want it cleaned up. And that’s what we need to do is get these agencies to work together,” Miller said. “I’m told I’m not an engineer and I’m not an engineer, but I also know enough that you’re not an engineer. We have to be an engineer because 17 days later, if we still have roads under water, something didn’t work as it should.”

“I’m glad they’re looking at it,” Bolnick said. “It goes back before her, so I welcome the help and I’m grateful that you’re helping with that too, because sometimes that’s what it takes to draw. pay attention to that.”

WFTS

After the I-Team’s initial story, county officials also contacted Bolnick and his neighbors to schedule a meeting and said they are working with the Department of Public Works on steps to address any immediate relief or assistance for the debt. water.

This story started with a tip. If you have something you’d like the I-Team to investigate, contact Kylie: