SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — The last few months have been a roller coaster for some Pine Ridge Drive residents in South Washington County.
They said it feels like the county is giving up on them now more than ever.
“I couldn’t have stood before they started pumping and it’s still a huge amount of water that still needs to come down,” Pine Ridge Drive Resident Nancy Haralson said. “Every rain brings it back up.”
Residents said floodwater has risen five inches since pumps were removed in mid-February.
“Many of the people that have lived here for many years have said that it rises and lowers, but now it only continues to rise,” Pine Ridge Drive Resident Richard Johnson said.
Johnson fears they’re left with no choice but to leave.
However, he said selling his home to the FEMA buyout program doesn’t sound like a good option either.
“We’ve been looking at other homes, other houses,” Johnson said. “Prices are a lot higher than we’re being offered. Therefore, we have no place to go.”
Johnson said FEMA offered to buy his home for half the price.
He’s considering moving to Alabama.
Many residents said they want to stay but the money from the buyout program wouldn’t allow them to.
“And what about how much money FEMA makes on those buyout programs? It’s ridiculous. It’s more than a realtor makes on both sides,” Haralson said. “I used to be a realtor so it’s very frustrating.”
Harolson and many of her neighbors said they feel the county is keeping them in the dark.
They’d like to have answers.
County officials said they are still working on the next solution.
