Hundreds of Imperial Lakes residents found themselves stranded Thursday evening, coming home from school and work unable to reach their houses. An afternoon storm dropped 3 to 4 inches of rain in the area, according to Polk County officials, leaving the road flooded with more than 2 feet — some estimated nearly 3 feet — of water.
Several abandoned cars were left floating in the water, while other drivers had managed to pull their vehicles onto the sliver of median rising above the waters like an island, parking and abandoning hope of going any further.
Periodic flooding of Imperial Lakes Boulevard is not unexpected for its residents. Nearly all who spoke to expressed frustration that something hasn’t been done to alleviate the issue.
Imperial Lakes residents said they were promised a second entrance would be built when Enclave at Imperial Lakes was developed, but the road was never constructed.
When Imperial Lakes Boulevard floods during a heavy rain, residents find themselves either trapped in or flooded out of their homes.
Residents have repeatedly raised fears to Polk County officials that the impassible state of the roadway leaves fire responders, EMS, and fire trucks unable to reach the complex’s nearly 10,000 residents.
“My biggest fear is someone is going to lose their life because help can’t get to them,” Resident said.
At Friday’s agenda study, Polk County Commission Chair Lindsey said all the commissioners had been contacted by residents of Imperial Lakes about flooding that blocked them from driving to their homes.
Lindsay expressed his frustration by the lack of progress on the Imperial Lakes stormwater project and wanted staff to figure something out immediately.
“The governor built a bridge in less than 30 days, and it takes us two years to dig a hole,” he said, exasperated at the timeline for the stormwater drainage project. “Is there any way to expedite the construction and permitting of the land we have acquired for this stormwater management system?”
Lindsey asked whether the current emergency declaration by Polk County for Hurricane Idalia would allow the county to address the flooding immediately, but neither the county administrator or staff immediately responded.
That led to Commissioner Neil Combee to say, “If you all lived there, you would all find a way to move faster.”
Lindsey said he wants a public notice issued to let Imperial Lakes residents know that there is an $8 million project underway.
Combee was not satisfied with any of the responses he got, nor did he like hearing it could take six months to determine if short-term measures would just move the problem downstream.
“It doesn’t take six months to figure that out,” he said.
County Manager Bill Beasley said the possibility of a sump pump would be looked into, but he was not certain.
“Maybe there is some temporary pumping arrangements that we can put in place so we can get to capacity to the property that we have acquired,” he said. He added it could pose permitting issues.
Polk County staff reached out to the Southwest Florida Water Management District on Friday afternoon about the flooding issues in Imperial Lakes, according to SWFWMD spokesperson Susanna Tarokh said.
Tarokh said the district issued an emergency order in response to Hurricane Idalia that authorizes affected local governments to conduct certain pumping activities without providing notice to district.
Private landowners who want to create offsite temporary discharge by pumping water out must contact the Swiftmud prior to starting any activity.
Homeowners with questions and concerns can contact the water management district’s Bartow Service Office at 863-534-1448.