Florida residents face yard flooding due to drainage oversights

Homeowners in Port St. Lucie, Fla. say their backyards are flooding because a required drainage swale, which was approved by St. Lucie County as a part of development plans, was never constructed.

CBS12 News reported that residents in a “newer” neighborhood said that persistent flooding has damaged their yards.

“I do know my yard is flooding,” said Beverly Bostic, a resident of the Azalea neighborhood told the news station. “I got bugs. And I got mud. And that’s not what I paid for.”

CBS12 News also uncovered a separate case from public records showing similar flooding concerns tied to a development involving an under-construction apartment complex.

The records show runoff from the construction site caused flooding on a neighboring residential property. Heidi Mehaffey, an attorney representing the affected homeowner, told CBS12 news that the project’s engineer was aware of drainage concerns and proceeded despite recommendations from district staff.

“As a result, there had been off-site adverse impacts to my client’s property, resulting in flooding,” Mehaffey said.

The South Florida Water Management District issued a violation notice related to the project which remains open on the district’s permit portal.

An independent engineer reviewing both cases told the news station that the core issue appears to be failed drainage conveyance, meaning stormwater is not properly draining into retention or treatment areas.

“I call it a no man’s land where the water doesn’t have any place to go,” Leo Giangrande, principal engineer with Giangrande Engineering and Planning, said. “This is not good construction. They shouldn’t have had the person sell the house and move in.

County leaders say they are increasingly seeing cases where approved drainage plans are not being followed during construction.

Officials say corrective actions are still underway in both neighborhoods.

The county has faced drainage issues before, according to a report by WPTV 5, having sent out crews to stage pumps in flood-prone areas and asking residents to clear culverts in Oct. 2024 after torrential rainfall from Hurricane Milton.

At the time, Eric Gill, communications director for St. Lucie County, told WPTV 5 that the county’s storm drainage system can only handle four to six inches of water an hour.