Flooding recedes near Little Wekiva River, but residents left with damaged homes, smelly mess

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — The Little Wekiva River has dropped about a foot and a half during the past couple of days, and much of the flood water from Hurricane Irma has receded from nearby neighborhoods.

But now, homeowners are dealing with a smelly, unprecedented mess.

Resident Felix Acevedo has been cleaning up the mud and water from his home, but the damage remains.

Marks on his walls show water was 8 to 12 inches inside.

He put his furniture on blocks and stacked his belongings on his bed.

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His cabinets have begun to warp from the water damage, and his carpet has already been ripped out.

The water that filled the street is gone, too.

It’s now filling up instead with  the carpet and other ruined belongings.

“We had fish floating out, my husband found a dead fish over here,” said resident Georgina O’Bryan.

Residents question where all the water came from and wonder if it was released from another county or body of water to ease flooding elsewhere.

City officials insist that's not the case.

“This was caused by 17 inches of rain falling in Orange County and Orlando flowing into the river,” said Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Martz.

It doesn't make it any easier for people who spent a week dealing with flood waters in and around their homes, who now must deal with the mess and devastation it left behind.

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“There's still moisture in there, but there's no way for us to get in the walls and get a lot of it clean,” Acevedo said.

More than 40 homes in the area had some sort of water intrusion whether it was inside homes or garages..

Many will be getting a hold of their insurance companies and fear they could be out of their homes for months.

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Cox Media Group