Florida Governor Rick Scott met with local officials in Bonita Springs Friday morning to discuss the impact of flooding the area has seen over the past week. The governor said he has been monitoring the conditions in the area, ever since record rainfall submerged several communities in Southwest Florida.
While many floodwaters in many communities have drained, standing water has lingered for days on certain streets in Bonita Springs, such as Quinn, Saunders and Chapman Streets.
"We will be talking to the Water Management District, F-DOT, and DEP to see if there's things we can do to prevent this in the future," Scott said after the meeting, which was also attended by Bonita Mayor Peter Simmons, Lee County Commissioner Brian Hammon and Undersheriff Carmine Marceno.
"This was nearly two feet of water dumped over three days," Hammon said. "That's going to overwhelm just about any drainage system, no matter how good it is."
"This was an emergency for anybody that got water in their homes," Hammon added. "This was hard for them."
Scott said he believes flood insurance rates are too high for Floridians.
"I've been really frustrated with the federal government, because a few years ago they changed the flood insurance system, and didn't do a proper survey to look at what we should be charged in Florida," Scott said. "They've raised our rates, and made it more difficult for people who have flood insurance."
As of September 2016, nearly 1.8 million Floridians had flood insurance, the most of any state. But Ray Humphrey, whose San Carlos Park mobile home suffered heavy flood damage this week, said that he - and many of his neighbors - go without it.
"Everything's out of pocket," Humphrey said. "I don't have insurance, because a lot of people can't afford it."
The governor said he wants to see that change.
"I'm going to try to work with the federal government so they'll do the right thing," Scott said.
