Drainage issues cause flooded roads, yards during heavy rain in Mandarin

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The relentless rain backed up many aging drainage systems across Jacksonville, which caused flooded roads and yards Wednesday.

“Every time we get a lot of rain it’s like this. Every time,” John Dvoroznak, a resident along Burnett Park Road, said. “Down at the church, there’s a caved-in culvert — therefore all the water is backing up into my house.”

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He’s lived in Mandarin for 18 years and said even though he’s not in a flood zone, the ongoing issues along Burnett Park Road have forced him to get flood insurance.

“Because of this issue. They come once every — I don’t know — ten years to clean the ditches out. But that doesn’t do any good because it’s not solving the issue,” he explained.

He put in a request with the City of Jacksonville to fix the issues, and Action News Jax’s Robert Grant also reached out Tuesday.

A representative said they would look into it, but did tell Action News Jax that most areas impacted by the heavy rain were developed before modern stormwater systems like retention ponds.

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Public Works crews investigating standing water this week found only about 20% of the flooding was because of blocked drains. The rest was because the rainwater exceeded what the pipes could handle.

According to the city, the Public Works Engineering Division maintains a list of drainage system rehabilitation projects that are initiated through MyJax tickets. The projects are evaluated and prioritized based on potential property flooding, frequency, and severity.

“Public Works will be holding a series of meetings to identify innovative approaches to monitoring, predicting, and addressing the growing stormwater management issues,” the city said in a statement.

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