It’s been nearly a week since a rare rain storm dumped more than two feet of water on Destin during a short three-day period, and now standing water is beginning to raise concerns of public safety and health issues.
“Our whole cul-de-sac is swamped,” Carrie Kenworthy told The Log Monday “It’s feces-laden stormwater — now there are bugs and mosquitoes.”
Several residential areas and roadways are still submerged in flood water, and questions are mounting on how to find relief and what responsibilities fall on the city and county. All told, City Manager Maryann Ustick told city leaders during Monday night’s City Council meeting that between 180-200 homes in Destin saw flood damage.
Given the amount of rainwater that had accumulated in their neighborhood, Kenworthy told The Log that she and her fiancé Gary Alves assumed the rest of the city was equally as flooded.
“We drove out (once the water receded a bit) and it’s a totally different world,” said Kenworthy, who lives in Quail Run, off of Airport Road. “Nobody knew it would be this bad.”
Now, both Kenworthy and Alves are waiting to see what happens next, as portions of their road were still flooded Monday. Alves even posted a long message on The Log’s Facebook page sharing his frustrations.
“It has now been six days, and while the rest of the city appears to be drying out and moving forward with life, our small neighborhood is filled with stagnant sewer water,” he wrote.
Three days after the initial storm, Alves said he noticed areas of the city being pumped and assumed that his neighborhood would be slated for the near future.
“At that time we saw what we assumed was a city pump… a huge one pumping out the local ball field,” said Alves. “It struck me as odd that the city would attend to the ball field before taking care of its residents.”
But that wasn’t the case, city officials told The Log.
Public Information Manager Doug Rainer said the ball fields at Morgan’s Sports Center actually drained naturally and the city had only pumped water out of the parking lot at City Hall, which was completely flooded and blocked from all entrances.
As for the flooded neighborhoods, the city has a protocol in place that guides how situations like these are handled.
“Things are prioritized based on public safety,” said Rainer. “There are so many impacted areas in Destin.”
Rainer said that the city has been focusing on the most affected areas in the city on a case-by-case basis. The first priority, he said, is homes that still have water in them; and then roadways and areas where there are no detour roads.
“These guys are working hard,” he said referring to the city’s small public services crew; who have been working almost round the clock since Wednesday. “There are tons of these pockets around town.”
In addition to the city’s public works crews round-the-clock efforts, steps are also being taken from a governmental standpoint to seek assistance.
“The city is working with the county to have our area declared a disaster area…” Ustick said. “On May 6, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is going to be at the county EOC.”
Given the amount of standing water in certain areas of the city, there are additional concerns about the increased presence of mosquitoes in the city.
Scott Henson, district director for the Okaloosa County Mosquito Control Division, told The Log that a new population of mosquito larvae takes four to seven days to emerge, and that adult maturity occurs after 10-14 days.
“It is critical for us to understand what we are in for,” he said. “The situation right now is; within the next couple of days we are rooting for it to rain. Moving water keeps the mosquitoes at a controllable population, but standing water will compliment population growth.”
Henson explained that in order to control the mosquito population, the county has three methods to curb growth before the insects reach adulthood.
“One is adding chemicals to standing water,” he said. “The second is adding Gambusia fish, or mosquito fish, and they will consume most of the larvae. The third way is history; if we know a particular area attracts mosquitoes.”
Henson said that once mosquitoes have reached adulthood there are still several ways to control population growth.
In Destin there is a mosquito trap in Kelly Plantation that the county routinely monitors. Henson ensured that so far there has been no significant change in mosquito population, and very few mosquitoes of the disease carrying species have been identified.
“We are spot spraying, investigating counts, or conducting landing rate counts,” he said. “We have mosquito traps located all around the county and we physically count the number of mosquitoes caught in the machine over a period of time.”
Henson urges residents to call the Mosquito Control District if a mosquito problem occurs.
“We approach the problem from all different sides, and we trust that citizens will call us if they get a lot of nuisance,” he said.
Residents that experienced flood issues are urged to report their damage or any other issues they are having on the city’s website at www.cityofdestin.com.
“We understand that there are still flood-affected areas in the city, and we are working as fast as we can to remedy these issues,” Rainer said.
As of Tuesday morning, Kenworthy wrote on The Log’s Facebook page that she had been contacted by the Health Department, the city had come out with pumps, and “about twenty families can now remove the wet/molded items and start the recovery process.”
FLOOD DEBRIS REMOVAL
The city of Destin has contracted with Waste Management to remove flood debris throughout the city beginning Friday, May 9, and continuing Saturday, May 10.
Citizens with flood-related debris removed from their homes (furniture, carpet, drywall, etc.) should place these items by the curb as soon as possible for assessment and pickup on Friday and Saturday.
Bulk items not related to flood damage will not be picked up on the Friday and Saturday flood debris sweep. Please call Waste Management at 862-7141 to schedule a free pickup for all other bulk items.
Materials must be placed next to the road and clear of fire hydrants, mail boxes, parked cars, storm drains or cable/power pedestals.
Regular garbage, yard waste, recycling and bulk services will follow normal schedules.
NEED MOSQUITO ADDISTANCE?
Okaloosa County Mosquito Control Division 689-5774