PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Flooding is still an issue in Sportsmans Harbor neighborhood. So much of an issue that their sewer system is shut down.
Neighbor Suzanne Carroll describes what her backyard looked like after the storm.
“We set up high we are at the high end of the canal so we had water. When it comes across there's a sidewalk that goes down the canal so if it gets up over the sidewalk we know we got extremely high tides and it was well over the sidewalks for Ian and Nicole," said Carroll.
Carroll was one of the lucky ones because some neighbors are dealing with their sewers being turned off.
The sewer system operates on a vacuum design and with the high water almost stand still, it’s impossible to clear the sewer lines without it backing up into everyone’s home.
“We didn’t expect this much, you know, we had just gotten back when Ian came through and we had flooding here with Ian. When we saw Nicole we were thinking, well it won’t be that big of a deal. It wasn’t a named storm yet. It hadn’t reached hurricane status, and the thing that was different about this storm was the width of the wind band," said neighbor Ted Yoho.
To help out neighbors, Friday afternoon FEMA brought portable toilets and showers to the neighborhood for those who may need it.
“You know its temporary and there’s a price you pay with living on the river. You know some of these things happen you want to mitigate as much as you can with things like the FEMA trailer," said Yoho.
The mayor of Welaka, Jamie Watts, says the sewer system may not be back on for weeks.