JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The rain that fell on the First Coast Thursday and Friday has caused terrible flooding on one specific street on the Westside of Jacksonville.
But this street isn't near a creek or river that could even overflow.
The area in front of Albert Nolan's home looks like a small pond rather than a front yard. Nolan says that flooding like this only started happening when new development came to the area. When the city wouldn't respond to his plea for help, he called First Coast News.
"It really is a nice yard when it's not flooded," said Nolan as he looks out on his flooded front yard. On this day he can't walk from his front door to his mailbox without wading through water, so he gave First Coast News a ride in his golf cart to see where he considers the source of the problem to originate.
"When there's not a bad rain you can keep the yard dry a little bit," said Nolan, "I dug this ditch from here to yonder with a shovel, there was actually no ditch here, didn't really need one until the continual development."
Just a short drive up Nolan's street there are multiple housing developments being built. Right in front of the developments are huge sections of standing water and Nolan says he knows why the water is there.
"A mudslide filled up those ditches and they've been like that for over a month," said Nolan.
Nolan has lived in his home for nearly 40 years, but his experience with moving water is even longer. He was a plumber for nearly 50 years and says that the developers don't have a plan to move water in the neighborhood.
"It's just progressively getting worse because they continuingly eliminate swamps that hold water and create drainage that goes this way when there's no drainage," said Nolan.
If you think his front yard is bad, his backyard is worse. Nolan has to wade through water that's eight inches deep just to get to his workshop.
"It was frustrating when you walk outside and your yard's underwater, and you see a water moccasin swimming through your front yard within 10 feet of your front door," said Nolan.
Nolan said that he's repeatedly called the city, the developers and the utility companies with his suggestion to extend drainage ditches to local creeks and to clean out the mud blocking existing drainage systems. However, he says those calls appear to fall on deaf ears.
"You make so many calls and nothing happens," said Nolan, "it's like they listen to what I have to say but it goes in one ear and out the other and nothing happens.
Despite all the water around his house, Nolan says that he's been fortunate to not have water in his house.
Of course, his home might not stay dry if the drainage systems aren't fixed before we get more rain.