Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc on several Central Florida communities, but spared the Orlo Vista neighborhood in West Orange County from much damage. It’s a relief for the community, which took on devastating floodwaters during Hurricane Ian two years ago.
A major flood mitigation project that the county’s Public Works Department is finishing up is partly to thank, according to Deputy Public Works Director Brett Blackadar.
“It definitely had a big impact, because the project was effectively done,” Blackadar said. “The only thing that wasn’t in place was the final pumps.”
The Orlo Vista Flood Mitigation Project is about 97% finished, according to the county’s most recent update. Although supply-chain delays have halted the arrival of permanent, submersible pumps that will ultimately be installed for the project, the county has temporary pumps in place that effectively do the same job, Blackadar said.
“The effect was that we basically were able to get a hundred-year storm event capacity out of the system,” Blackadar said.
In Orlo Vista and the surrounding area of Orange County, that translates to about 10.5 inches of rain, Blackadar said. Although Milton brought less rain than that to the area, Blackadar said the project still helped mitigate the area’s potential for flooding.
“We were seeing, obviously, a very different situation there than we saw in either Irma or Ian,” Blackadar said.
The flood mitigation project involves three ponds crews excavated to create more water storage, as well as new pumps that will ultimately be installed to move out excessive water.
“The final configuration will be a little better, but we were able to get almost the same capacity out of the temporary situation. So effectively, no one will really notice the difference,” Blackadar said.
The county rented temporary pumps through the end of this hurricane season, Blackadar said, so the area will remain protected until the permanent pumps can be installed: hopefully by spring of 2025, the project’s current target for completion.
