Residents say flooding left more than $10K in damages to Lake Worth Beach homes

Flooding has people feeling drained at the Arts Lofts of West Village in Lake Worth Beach.

"I looked out my window here and this is where I first saw the flooding, it was all down here," said Christina Pritchard who lives in the Arts Lofts.

Neighbors said that the units along N F street were built too low which is causing their homes to flood when it rains.

"You can see the difference of the heights of the homes around us, look how high that is compared to this one," said Pritchard.

Pritchard said flooding brought six inches of water into some units and worries the impact it has on residents.

"One has a new baby do you think the mold that grows from damage from water is safe for a baby? That's really terrible," said Pritchard.

Joshua Diaz who lives in the Arts Lofts said the flood forced water through the walls and left cracks in his foundation.

Diaz is estimating more than $10,000 in damages.

At the end of last year, the city installed an underground exfiltration system along N F Street, closest to Lucerne Avenue.

RELATED: Project hopes to solve flooding issues in Lake Worth Beach

The project included the installation of drainage structures and an exfiltration trench to provide additional drainage capacity for the drainage basin.

Brandon Graham who lives along N F street said his family invested up to $10,000 in flood barriers last year, and Sunday both were put to the test.

"The barriers helped the water from coming into our homes, but the pipes that the city put underneath the ground didn't serve it's purpose, it was more water than previous storms prior," said Graham. "I give the city credit; they did come out and try to address the problem. The problem obviously isn't fixed, come back out and evaluate the situation."

Brandon Graham said the units were meant to be affordable housing, but with rising bills stacked with water damage repairs he said it has made it hard to stay afloat.

"Turn this area into a drainage area where the rain can actually go down, because obviously this is a flood zone," said Graham. "And give us back our money from the homes that we purchased that way we can buy another home somewhere else where we won't have to continue to encounter this problem."

The City of Lake Worth Beach said the reported flooding is on private property and should be taken up with the developer or other parties as the City cannot do work on private property.

WPTV has reached out to the developer but did not hear back.

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