LAKELAND, Fla. — “Time flies over us, however leaves its shadow behind.”
That quote, attributed to the author Nationwide Hawthorne, sums up what Nicole Aldahonda-Ramirez is feeling six months after Hurricane Milton flooded her Lakeland residence.
Since then, time has flown.
“It looks like it’s been ten years,” she stated.
However Milton’s shadows are nonetheless all over the place: all through her Lakeland neighborhood on Little Lake Bonny, inside and outdoors her residence, and behind her thoughts consistently.
“You understand, I’m in remedy for the PTSD, the trauma, every thing that’s gone on,” Aldahonda-Ramirez stated.
Her residence, positioned immediately on the lake, had by no means flooded earlier than till Milton.
It flooded so badly {that a} boat collided along with her residence, and she or he needed to escape via the entrance window along with her canine.
“I can’t even consider I went in and thru the water,” she stated. “I’d by no means go in that water, and the truth that I really was in it strolling with alligators, who is aware of the place they have been.”
Six months later, she’s again within the residence however nonetheless rebuilding it little by little.
It’s exhausting. It’s costly. It could actually really feel not possible.
“It has a distinct which means dwelling right here now,” she stated whereas holding again tears. “It’s not, it’s not what I assumed it was going to be.”
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The worst half is the uncertainty.
“It’s not if I’m going to flood,” she stated. “It’s when.”
She feels the Metropolis of Lakeland can and will do extra to decrease the lake degree and stop future floods on Lake Bonny.
The town has taken some motion.
In March, town introduced a 90-day emergency settlement with the Southwest Florida Water Administration District, which controls lake ranges.
Earlier than the settlement, town might solely pump water from Lake Bonny into close by Lake Parker when Bonny reached a 10-year flood stage.
The brand new settlement will permit town to make use of the emergency pump sooner when Lake Bonny’s flood degree is roughly midway between a traditional lake degree and the 10-year flood stage.
The town just lately drained the culvert that runs between Lake Bonny and Lake Parker and found no obstructions.
Earlier this yr, the Metropolis of Lakeland additionally commissioned a examine of the Lake Bonny flooding to establish causes and attainable long-term options. Based on the examine’s timeline, it must be nearing completion within the coming weeks.
Nevertheless, Aldahonda-Ramirez and others need extra solutions, options, and proof that they matter to town.
“It’s extraordinarily laborious, however you must maintain going,” she stated.
Proper now, she’s accumulating signatures on a petition that asks town for an “impartial third-party assessment” of the flooding alongside Lake Bonny.
She plans to ship the signatures to commissioners at an upcoming assembly.
Advocating for her neighborhood whereas rebuilding her residence has change into a full-time job for Aldahonda-Ramirez.
“It’s insane the method,” she stated. “You’d by no means suppose that every one of that is concerned in it after the actual fact and that no person is there to present you assist or solutions.”
Six months have handed, however Milton nonetheless hangs like a cloud over her residence and others.
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