CAPE CORAL — People are kayaking in the street and fish are swimming in driveways.
Those are the conditions in one Cape Coral neighborhood on a daily basis, and we’re hearing from one man living there who wants the City to take action.
Almost every afternoon during the summer, people living on SE 9th Terr. are used to just watching as their neighborhood becomes a lake. That’s when people break out the kayaks, and watch their pools begin to overflow.
“This is a daily occurrence. My wife has to call me and see how the conditions are if she can come home or not," said Chris Doyon, who has been living on SE 9th Terr. for 21 years.
He took video with his cell phone Monday night as his neighborhood flooded again. He even caught a fish swimming in his driveway.
Doyon is disabled, and walks with a cane. He says for him, the floods are a serious safety issue.
"If I had to go to the hospital, or my wife or my neighbor, 9-1-1 might not be quick enough. This is a serious ongoing matter, I mean lives are at stake here. This isn’t a joke," said Doyon.
Doyon said it doesn’t have to be this way. He said the water flooding his neighborhood runs downhill under the wall of a property that sits about three to five feet higher than his. There are small drains, but Doyon said they all connect to just one pipe.
“When you’ve got one drain leading out of a whole neighborhood that’s not an appropriate size, one? I mean come on," said Doyon.
Doyon said he has contacted the City numerous times about the issue. We reached out as well, and the City responded, saying "There are plans to improve drainage in the area as part of the Nicholas Parkway East project."
But the City also said "The work... may not eliminate all of the flooding issues in the resident’s backyard... The Nicholas Parkway project could take up to 18 months to complete."
For Doyon and some of his neighbors, that’s not soon enough.
“Everybody’s ready to sign a petition. They want to take it to the next level," said Doyon.
One of the things Doyon plans to put in that petition is that he and his neighbors want to see all construction in Cape Coral stop until the infrastructure is improved.
