VALRICO, Fla. — Dozens of residents in the Feather Rock mobile home community in Valrico were finally able to return home for the first time since Hurricane Milton. The area flooded badly, and didn’t drain for weeks.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Feather Rock Community flooded during Hurricane Milton and the water didn't recede for weeks

  •  Hillsborough County started pumping water off of Valrico Road this week, which is near the community

  •  Some residents returned home for the first time since the storm on Friday

The entrance to Feather Rock is less than half a mile from Valrico Road, which is where residents believe the flooding originated. A portion of Valrico Road is still underwater, but Hillsborough County was finally able to start pumping some of the water back into the retention pond, which has also helped clear it out from Feather Rock.

“I would come look from the street over, and I could only see that there were two panels missing. Now, obviously, there’s a lot more,” said Doreen Kagan.

This is her first time back home since October 8, the day before Hurricane Milton came through.

“It was flooded from beginning of (the) road, about 15 houses or so, there was no way you could get through, and I wasn’t going to walk through water that I didn’t know what was in it,” she said.

The water has finally receded, but just one week ago, Kagan’s street looked more like a river than a road. Her husband is in a wheelchair, and there was no way they could make it through the flooding to get back, so a hotel has been home for the last few weeks.

“It was very stressful, because we had no idea if we could come back or not, so we were trying to figure out what we would do if we couldn’t and how long it would be,” she said.

After seeing the outside up close, Kagan took us inside. It was also her first time going in since the storm.

“So far so good, I don’t see any major damage, or any damage actually,” she said as she walked around the house.

Kagan is relieved. She’s not finding any signs that the water made it inside. She says she thinks the flooding caused by Hurricane Milton was a fluke thing, but she’s still hoping the county takes a closer look at this area.

“Whatever they can do to have this not happen again. There were so many families displaced, at least 15 in here, four of which have mobility issues, so they couldn’t come home even if they could drudge through the water,” she said.

Now, she says she can finally rest easy, with just a little cleanup. She will be able to bring her husband back home by the weekend, and overall, she says she feels very thankful.

“Two weeks being away from here is not as bad as not being able to come back,” she said.

Hillsborough County wasn’t able to start pumping until the water had gone down enough in the retention pond to pump more into it. Unfortunately, that did take a couple of weeks. County officials say they’ll start clearing out all the storm drains on Valrico Road soon, too.