Nearly a year after Hurricane Milton caused severe flooding around Lake Bonny, the City of Lakeland has released a long-awaited independent report detailing what went wrong and what the report recommends must be done to keep it from happening again.
The storm submerged roads and flooded homes, displacing families and raising serious concerns about the city’s preparedness.
The damage prompted residents to demand an outside investigation into the failures they believe made the flooding worse.
“They just didn’t keep up with it,” neighbor Ron Capps said. “They saw the lake was high last year, but nobody chose to do anything about it.”
According to the report, prepared by engineering firm AECOM, pump capacity was a key issue.
The lake’s current system moves about 10 cubic feet of water per second, which is well below the 50 to 400 cubic feet per second that may be needed during major storm events.
“We knew we were right,” said neighbor Dan Pultz, who called the findings both validating and frustrating.
The report outlines three main options for addressing the issue:
- Pumping water from Lake Bonny to nearby Lake Parker
- Redirecting it to a nearby mine
- Sending it downstream through Lake Parker
“We’re just anxious to get the problem fixed,” resident Dorothy Drinkwater said. “Because we were out of our home for a good month last, during Milton.”
City officials say each solution comes with significant financial and logistical challenges. In a statement, a spokesperson said the options would require coordination between city, county, and state agencies.
For now, Polk County is leading the response. Officials have submitted a $12 million grant request to the Florida Department of Emergency Management to help fund flood mitigation projects around Lake Bonny.
Still, residents remain skeptical.
“I hope they follow through with what they get out of this study,” Capps said. “Instead of just… putting it on a back burner like, ‘Well, it’s down now, no storms, nothing’s happening, it’ll just go away.’”
As hurricane season peaks, many living near Lake Bonny say the water levels are lower than they were last year, easing immediate concerns. But they warn that the window to act is closing.
“Do something about it,” Pultz said. “What else can you do? We’re powerless here.”
Seems that when they raised the water level of lake Hancock flooding got worse but there is no mention of that in any report I have seen. Right after they raised the level my property was put into the flood zone. It was to prevent flooding down stream from lake Hancock , so it holds more water upstream.
I’m no expert but water finds its level point.