DADE CITY, Fla. — Parts of Pasco County are still flooded, months after back-to-back storms hit the area. To ease the flooding, pumps have been installed. But getting them there was a difficult process. 

“It was a big mess when it happened,” says Victor Lemus as we followed him through his neighbor’s backyard. It’s the only way to get to his house. 

“All my Amazon deliveries go there. Dog food deliveries. They’ve been so kind,” he says.

Victor and his wife have a beautiful home. It sits on five acres in Dade’s City’s Hickory Hills neighborhood. 

Since Milton and Helene hit last Fall most of the property has been under water, including the road that leads to the house. 

“If I have a medical emergency or a fire back here, you’re carrying me out in a slab,” he says, half-jokingly and half serious. 

In the days following Milton, Lemus says that the county brought in pumps, but they weren’t around long enough to make much of a difference. 

“Like, they should have just kept pumping the water out. They were pumping it out when it initially happened. And then they pulled the pumps on December 16th. So, from December 16th, from that stick that you just stepped on …to that. That’s how much regression there’s been in two months,’ he says, referring to the large brown stick on the ground next to my feet and the water’s edge about five feet away. To put it simply. Not much has changed.  

It’s because of this that he and other residents in similar situations went to county leaders looking for answers.

“We were told they had to reallocate them to other areas,” said Lemus. “It’s frustrating.”

Pasco County’s Director of Public Works, Jason Mickel confirmed this. 

Lemus says he understands that resources were limited, and the county was trying to do its best, but when it was clear that the water wasn’t going away, why didn’t they get more pumps then?

Mickel says the reason for the delay all came down to ownership.

“So, as we’ve discussed in the past, at our board meetings and with many of the residents in the area, the county does not use public funds on private property.”

However, he says, using state resources the county was able to purchase additional pumps to use in locations that impact public roadways. 

“If there is a public purpose, like the county road that connects to the private road and we need to get an emergency vehicle down that road, then we will look to remove some of that water,“ Mickel explains.

Lemus’s property falls into this category. Last Thursday, a pump was installed down the street from his house. The only downside is that the pumps will only operate on weekdays. It’s Sunday. Two days wasted, he says. 

“We’re going to get rain tomorrow,” said Lemus. “They said up to an inch. Do you know what that is going to do to this? It compounds it by four.”

Lemus is extremely grateful for the pumps. His response when he found out they were installed in his area was, “Hallelujah, let’s go have a beer!” But he’s aware that pumping takes time and, until now, time hasn’t really been on his side. 

“As time goes by, everybody is weary. Everybody’s tired, their weary, their patience. They’re running out. I mean, this is its time for this to resolve before the rainy season gets here. And then we’re right back in it again,” Lemus says, resigned to the fact that he will indeed have to wait longer still.