If you live in an older home or community in Florida and you feel like new developments are springing up all around you, you are not alone. Florida’s population is booming and, along with the large numbers of people moving to the state, there has been a building boom. A dark side of the construction boom in Florida is that older homes and communities are flooding at an increasing rate, often because of these new developments are built at a higher elevation than existing homes and communities. This creates a real problem for existing homeowners, whose properties may now be directly in the path of storm water runoff from a new development where their property never flooded before.
Clash of the Building Codes
One reason for this increased flooding is that the Florida Building Code is becoming more strict as it relates to the elevation of homes as time goes on. Therefore, you can have a new development that is five feet higher than the older community next to it. This difference in elevations and gravity can lead to flooding of the older community if there is even the slightest issue with the new development’s drainage systems.
Another issue is that many of these newer communities are being built on what are known as infill lots-meaning a developer is filling in vacant lots or parcels in between existing homes and communities to build a new community. This makes for a design challenge for the civil engineer designing the new development’s stormwater drainage system given that the existing homes may have been part of a comprehensive storm drainage plan.
Removal of Natural Flood Barriers
As land is cleared and vegetation removed during the process of site preparation for some of the parcels of land these new communities are built upon, natural barriers to flooding also are being removed. Wetlands may be drained or else vegetation and soil are removed. Wetlands serve as natural sources of inflows (meaning that neighboring parcels drain into them and the wetlands then hold that water and prevent the neighboring properties from flooding). Filling in or bulldozing over wetlands not only changes the drainage pattern, but also removes a vital resource keeping existing properties from flooding.
Vegetation also tends to soak up water and its roots hold soil together. Removing vegetation can therefore not only lead to increased flooding, but also to significant erosion. Some of that dirt may then lead existing homes or communities to experience sediment intrusion when heavy rains occur.
What recourse do I have if a new development is causing my property to flood?
Developers and home builders are required to take existing properties into account when designing the stormwater drainage systems for new developments. If they either fail to do so and flood existing properties or else do not, then they can be held legally liable.
Contact the Florida Flood Lawyer
If your home or neigborhood is flooding as a result of new construction going up around you, email or call us today to discuss your legal options.
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