JENSEN BEACH, Fla. — Much of a Jensen Beach neighborhood on Hyline Drive is underwater after this week's heavy rain overwhelmed the local drainage system. As of Wednesday afternoon, water levels inside some homes are still rising long after the rain stopped.
For Lisa French and Tiffany Kincaid, a kayak has become the way to get around their flooded community.
WATCH REPORT BELOW:
At Kincaid's home, the water level is waist-deep.
"We're currently taking stuff out of our house right now, salvaging what we can," said Kincaid.
At French's home, the damage has just begun, with the water level climbing to 4 inches deep.
"My floorboards are outside, but it's still rising. My husband made a mark inside so it's still coming up and ours isn't nearly as bad as everyone else," French said.
Their homes are among dozens in the neighborhood under water after Monday's heavy rain saturated the ground and inundated the drainage system.
Consumer
No flood insurance? What homeowners need to know
"We were expecting flooding to go down. There hasn't been rain. Clearly drainage is not — things are not draining correctly," Kincaid said.
Martin County told us the neighborhood is uniquely located next to the Savannas Preserve, where water is naturally flowing south from other areas that flooded. For now, the county says it's unable to pump water out of the community because the nearby watershed doesn't have capacity, but relief may be on the horizon.
"As the water level drops, that's going to drain the ponds that we need to pump into, and that's going to allow us to do that," Martin County's Public Works Director Jim Gordon said. "We're maximizing what we can downstream, and we might see it trending in the right direction."
Residents are hoping relief comes sooner rather than later so they can start the long road to recovery.
"Even after, like, our houses are wrecked," French said.
"It's just a lot to take in right now for us," Kincaid said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
