Pasco County homeowners still feeling effects of heavy rainfall from weekend

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Heavy rainfall on Friday left roads like U.S. 19 and Moog Road flooded and nearly impassable.

The effect of that rainfall is still being felt by local residents.

“This is right in the front of the house,” said Anthony Argentino, swiping through photos on his phone that he took over the weekend.

“Within 15 minutes or so, the water started piling up from the street into the driveway,” said Argentino. “It didn’t stop for about two hours. And what should have been a regular summer rainstorm was a flood right in the middle of the street, which we call ‘Lake Murrow.’”

The road in front of Argentino’s home, Murrow Street, was submerged underwater. Cars could be seen having a difficult time cutting through the murky depths. Argentino has been living in his New Port Richey home since 2013. Each year, he says, has gotten worse than the last.

“The water always piles up in the road all rainy season,” Argentino said. “Rain comes into people’s houses, back rooms get flooded, and sometimes when we get regular storms they’re worse than hurricanes are.”

At the end of Murrow Street, you can see that some of that rainwater is still there, along with orange traffic barriers.

“If we had to pack up for hurricanes in the past, now we’re really going to have to do it because the water is rising higher every year,” Argentino said. “You’ve got to worry about water in the house, in the garage, in the bedrooms, and it’s just a mess to clean up.”

One solution Argentino said he’d like is improvements to local storm drains.

“We really try and do everything we can to keep the garbage out of the roads, keep the drains clear,” said Argentino. “And water companies come by looking at the drains every once in a while, and they don’t do anything. We see some roads under construction and them digging up drains, but it seems like nothing they do is working.”

So that when the next rainfall does arrive, roads and homes stay dry.

Pasco County officials responded to the flooding and neighbors’ concerns in a statement. It says in part:

“Pasco County is aware of the localized flooding that occurred over the weekend following heavy rainfall in the New Port Richey area… We have developed a comprehensive Stormwater Master Plan, a long-term strategy designed to reduce flooding risks and enhance drainage in areas that experience repeated flooding.”