As Elsa approaches, work continues in Orlo Vista to prevent future flooding

ORLO VISTA, Fla. — José Zimmerer has happily lived in his Orlo Vista neighborhood for years, helping his mostly Brazilian neighbors through good times and bad.

His one-room prefabricated home sits on the shore of a retention pond, giving him a view and a lush garden centered around a towering mango tree. But while the outside of his home gives off a paradise-like feel, the inside makes him want to leave.

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“It’s coming little by little bit,” he said, pointing to a hole in his linoleum tile floor. “The piece come out, I took it off.”

Zimmerer’s home was flooded by Hurricane Irma four years ago, when close to a half foot of rain caused the ponds behind the house to overtop their banks. Water came up high enough to spill through his front door, damaging the home, his belongings and causing some to float off.

The roofer is still waiting for a replacement, nearly four years later. FEMA, he said, was no help. He has been approved for a new home through a different program and is waiting for his 30-day move-out notice.

Until then, he lives among rotting wood, a falling down ceiling and exposed insulation. The water messed with his electrical system, too. While he’ll be forced to head to higher ground, Tropical Storm Elsa doesn’t scare him.

“I feel now everything under control than before,” he said, adding that he was taken off guard by the ferocity of the 2017 storm.

READ: Countless pets also rescued from Irma’s floods

Orange County workers and leaders agree with his expectations. Ponds around Orlo Vista were lowered early Monday, and more work is expected before Elsa’s arrival on Tuesday. A stormwater manager said his efforts would be aided by less rain falling this time, and a less saturated ground.

Despite the rainfall Orlando has experienced over the past two weeks, he said, the soil is still drier than it was after a very rainy spring 2017.

“At this point, we have no plans to open shelters or do any of that because of the minimal impact that is projected,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Sunday.

There are plans in place to make the low-lying community more flood-resistant. A project to dig the retention ponds deeper – by as much as eight feet – and upgrade the pumps on the shore is funded and in the final planning phases, staff members said. Construction is projected to begin in about two years.

Until then, Zimmerer and his neighbors will have to ride out the whims of Mother Nature without that assurance.

READ: Orange County Mayor says Irma was ‘Worse than Charley’

The community isn’t sitting on its heels, though. Many of the newer homes being built are raised up on cinder block pillars. Zimmerer’s new structure will as well, putting almost twice the distance between his front door and future floods.

“We’re almost there,” he said. “Almost there.”

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