RIDGE MANOR, Fla. — Repercussions from Hurricane Milton are still being felt a month after the storm. 

What You Need To Know

  • Homeowners in the Ridge Manor area are still dealing with floodwaters in their homes and yards a month after Hurricane Milton

  • Many residents have lost possessions from the flooding as they clear out their homes to try to rebuild

  • It’s a puzzling outcome that has homeowners asking if certain efforts could have been made ahead of time with warning

  • A spokesperson with Hernando County says the flooding is from the Withlacoochee River due to hurricanes Helene and Milton

In the Ridge Manor area, homes are still underwater. It has been weeks since the floodwaters were first noticed by residents.

The unprecedented event has residents wondering how it wasn’t expected.

“As of Saturday, this entire road was still underwater,” said Dan Stickney, whose parents live in Ridge Manor. “I know Lakewood Drive, which is just two blocks over in that direction, is still completely underwater and this goes back about 150 to 200 acres south of us. Which, we believe, the levee feeds in from that area, but there’s nobody answering these questions.”

Standing in the yard of his parents’ home, Stickney is in disbelief. Possessions now sit outside in the water-logged grass.

“Everything- the motorcycle’s destroyed,” he said. “I mean, just things that he’s worked his whole life for and it’s gone.”

In the home, surroundings are nearly unrecognizable. Stickney says all they want to know is how residents were not warned ahead of time.

“These reservoirs, these dry lands haven’t seen water in 30 to 40 years,” he said. “So how do you go from not having an inch of water to filling up an entire neighborhood that runs miles? The square mile radius is probably 3 to 4-square-miles, and it fills the entire area two weeks after a storm.”

It’s a puzzling outcome that Stickney’s father has to recover from, believing certain efforts that could have been made ahead of time with warning.

“If there was a levee opened or if this is going to happen again in the future, I think that’s something residents should be made aware of,” Stickney said. “I think they need to find a better way of communicating when there is something like this that occurs in the future. So they can give the residents here time to move their items, protect their homes, and protect their family.”

History this community hopes will not repeat itself.

A spokesperson with Hernando County says the flooding is from the Withlacoochee River due to hurricanes Helene and Milton. The river has since crested and should continue taking time to go down.