ORLANDO, Fla. — Hurricane season has just started, but some families in the Orlando area are still living through the aftermath of last year’s storms. In the Wadeview and Delaney Park neighborhoods, there were days of constant flooding in 2024, causing homes to be underwater – and now, some homeowners are fighting back.
“It’s like PTSD. We really feel like shaky, just even going back to that place and reliving those motions of what we were going through,” said Stephen Harrison, whose family had just moved to a new home on Kaley Avenue around August OF 2024.
Only Channel 9 was allowed back into their home on Monday, about nine months after the powerful Labor Day Weekend storm last September led to a consistent stream of water flowing through the family’s hallways. “It’s been a difficult process,” said Anne Zorn-Harrison. “How can you not prepare for an event like that when we live in Central Florida, and we see hurricanes that drop loads of water? Tropical storms leave loads of water?”
The Harrisons’ backyard now looks nothing like it did last September, and the family said it took months—and a lot of money they didn’t have—to get it back to normal. Nine months later, they say the work is not done yet. “Still a lot of repairs we still need to do,” said Stephen, pointing at the repair marks that still linger in his hallway.
Channel 9 has now learned the family is suing two companies responsible for the resurfacing project on South Orange and Delaney Avenue. Hubbard Construction, hired by FDOT to lead the South Orange resurfacing construction, and Gibbs and Register, hired by the City of Orlando and OUC to install improvements along Delaney Avenue, are both defendants in the legal action. The suit claims both companies failed to take measures to prevent flooding while working on the projects, leading up to the damage from 2024. “The proper measures were not taken in order to prevent exactly such an event as this from occurring,” said Stephen Smith, an attorney representing the Harrisons. “It’s storm season in Florida. This is not unprecedented, regardless of what anyone may claim.”
In 2024, Channel 9 took the community’s concern straight to City Hall to ask Public Works about the ongoing initiatives to ensure the neighborhoods are equipped to deal with flooding.
READ: Flooding fallout: Channel 9 takes questions from Orlando residents straight to City Hall
The City of Orlando is not listed in the lawsuit, and therefore, it did not make any comments regarding the litigation. The City issued the following statement regarding its flooding prevention measures.
As the month of June is the start of Hurricane season, although all year long, the City’s Public Works team continuously prepares for the potential of severe storms, especially during the summer months. This includes checking inlets, lake outfalls, and drainage well intakes, as well as monitoring and lowering lakes to account for precipitation expectations each day. In addition, they inspect construction sites to ensure inlets are not experiencing any blockages and that water is flowing efficiently.
The Florida Department of Transportation, the Orlando Utilities Commission, and Gibbs and Register would not make any comments either. Channel 9 also reached out to Hubbard Construction, the second defendant in the suit, but has not heard back.
As the hurricane season gets underway, the family says they do not believe their community is ready for what’s to come over the next months – especially because the projects are still ongoing. “What is your message to whoever is in charge of preparing for this season,” Channel 9’s Geovany Dias asked the couple. “Do your job, look after everyone,” said Stephen. “There’s more to it than just the drainage system. These are families. These are homes that we pay loads of taxes on as well,” Anne said.
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