Naples drainage issues becoming more of a problem after Hurricane Ian

NAPLES, Fla.  — Naples city leaders tell me they saw 8 to 10 feet of storm surge from Hurricane Ian almost 3 weeks ago, but the problem now is a drainage system already maxed out.

Streets around James Ororurke’s home in Old Naples turned to ponds over the weekend after heavy rain…

“Is this going to slow up my process of getting rebuilt?” James said.”The streets, especially going west towards the bay on 9th ave. South here was literally almost impassible, well, they were impassible unless you had a boat.”

City leaders are asking that as people keep moving trash out of their homes, to keep it away from the drains, like what’s happening here. However, it’s not just debris from inside homes and businesses.

“This happens especially in high tides or heavy rains and it has just been repeating,” James said.

Naples city leaders took up the issue of the clogged system and lots of localized flooding at a workshop today. Where we asked the Interim Streets and Stormwater Director, Bob Middleton, what’s next for a fix.

“It’s going to be that way for a while. People want instant relief. There’s not going to be instant relief. We’ve got people working around the clock to keep it clear, but what complicates it is the rain we’ve had.”

Until then James is looking forward and taking it all in stride.

“I know that this too shall pass. The blessing of being here in a place I love and a place I love, we will rebuild and we’ll be fine.”