PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — WPTV is continuing to follow flooding issues at the intersection of California and Savona boulevards in Port St. Lucie.
The water has receded, but earlier this week, the intersection looked like a lake.
WATCH BELOW: Port St. Lucie flooding hits pizza shop hard as city works on fix
WPTV is pressing city leaders about any solution to keep the water levels down.
Neighbors shared video of the roadways, looking like a river.
"We were actually calling it the California River, as a joke," said Joe Dascoli, who works at Estella Pizzaria right of the intersection. "It becomes like an island around here."
That island is a shopping plaza where the pizza shop is located. Due to the flooding on Thursday, Dascoli said they had to close early.
"It's an ongoing thing that you know should be resolved," said Dascoli.
Dascoli told WPTV customers couldn't go in and orders couldn't go out during this week’s flooding.
"We've lost thousands of dollars just in revenue and people not being able to come in," said Dascoli. "Some of our drivers, their cars aren't capable of going through the floods, so we have to stop deliveries."
WPTV pressed the city of Port St. Lucie about any solutions to the flooding.
Scott Samples with the city said it's starting a pilot program for water level sensors at flood-prone areas in the city.
"There'll be alerts that'll be able to go to Public Works and the police to say, 'Hey, this area is seeing rapid flooding,' so they might be able to respond quicker," said Samples.
Samples said long-term solutions include a large-scale drainage project for the Oak Hammock neighborhood.
The project includes two new retention ponds, baffle boxes to collect runoff, and even raising sections of the roadway at California and Savona boulevards.
Right now, Samples said the project is in the data collection phase before moving on to design.
"This is one of the highest priorities that we have in terms of capital investment projects, and so it's going to take time," said Samples.
