Preparations in Daytona Beach for possible flooding

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]I’LL BE TIMING OUT.

[00:00:01]THOSE SHOWERS COMING UP NEXT TIME I SEE YOU.

[00:00:03]ALL RIGHT.

[00:00:04]MARQUISE MEANTIME, THAT FORECAST WITH QUITE A BIT OF RAIN COULD BE GENERATING SOME CONCERN FROM PEOPLE AND BUSINESS OWNERS IN PARTS OF THE REGION WHERE FLOODING IS EXPECTED.

[00:00:14]ONE OF THOSE PLACES IS DAYTONA BEACH, WHERE SOLUTIONS ARE LIKELY MANY YEARS AND MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AWAY.

[00:00:20]WESH TWO GREG FOX IS LIVE IN DOWNTOWN GREG.

[00:00:22]THOSE BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FOR YEARS.

[00:00:26]THEY HAVE.

[00:00:27]AND IT’S NOT FOR LACK OF DRAINAGE.

[00:00:29]I MEAN, TAKE A LOOK.

[00:00:31]THEY’VE GOT DRAINAGE IN THIS AREA OF DOWNTOWN.

[00:00:34]IT LOOKS LIKE PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES ARE DOING A GOOD JOB OF KEEPING THEM CLEAR.

[00:00:38]BUT TAKE A LOOK AT THE SLOPE ON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY BOULEVARD LEADING ALL THE WAY UP TO RIDGEWOOD AVENUE.

[00:00:43]WHERE DOES THE WATER GO?

[00:00:45]IT HAS TO COME ON DOWNHILL.

[00:00:47]IT ENDS UP HERE AT THESE BUSINESSES THAT ARE IN A BOWL, IF YOU WILL.

[00:00:52]ONE OF THE BUSINESSES OWNERS THAT WE TALKED TO TODAY SAID THEY HAD TO GET OUT.

[00:00:58]THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE INSIDE SOME DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES.

[00:01:02]WHEN HURRICANE NICOLE DRENCHED DAYTONA BEACH IN NOVEMBER 2022, INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY BOULEVARD NEAR BEACH AND PALMETTO WAS A RIVER.

[00:01:10]THE STAFF AT ZON’S FLOWERS HAD TO MOP UP SEVERAL FEET OF WATER, DAMAGING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN MERCHANDISE.

[00:01:17]THE POWER WAS OUT, TOO, FOR ALMOST FIVE DAYS, SO BY THE TIME WE WERE ABLE TO GET IN THERE, IT WAS HORRIBLE.

[00:01:25]OWNER EMILY BOTEL HAD HAD ENOUGH.

[00:01:27]SHE SOLD THE BUILDING ON ISB AND REOPENED IN FEBRUARY.

[00:01:31]IN THIS RENOVATED BUILDING ALONG THE HIGH GROUND OF RIDGEWOOD AVENUE.

[00:01:35]SHE JUST DIDN’T SEE THE SENSE IN CONTINUALLY PUTTING HER BUSINESS AND THE LIVELIHOODS OF HER WORKERS AT RISK DURING STORMS THAT SEEM TO BE GETTING WORSE.

[00:01:44]IT WAS COMING UP FROM THE FLOOR, COMING IN THE SIDES, SO THERE WAS NO WAY TO AVOID THAT.

[00:01:50]I MEAN, NOTHING WE COULD DO SANDBAGS, NOTHING WAS GOING TO HELP THAT.

[00:01:54]EVEN THOUGH THE FLORIST IS GONE, THE BUSINESS OWNERS SAY THEY’RE STAYING DESPITE CONCERNS ABOUT FLOODING AND OTHER BUSINESSES ARE STAYING TOO.

[00:02:01]BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE HAPPY ABOUT IT.

[00:02:04]THERE’S NOT THERE’S NOT A WORKABLE SOLUTION RIGHT NOW THAT’S BEEN PRESENTED TO US.

[00:02:08]ZACHARY COX IS WITH WORKSPACE COLLECTIVE, WHICH HAS 150 LOCAL BUSINESS MEMBERS.

[00:02:13]HE WANTS THE CITY TO TAKE AN AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO FINDING A SOLUTION TO THIS.

[00:02:20]SQUEEGEE FLOODING, LIKE THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE MILTON IN 2024.

[00:02:23]THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THE PERMANENT FIX IS, BUT FLOODING OR NO FLOODING, THEY AIM TO STAY PUT.

[00:02:30]SO WE LOVE IT HERE.

[00:02:31]WE ALSO PUT A TON OF MONEY INTO THESE BUILDINGS.

[00:02:34]BEFORE WE KNEW THAT THERE WAS A FLOODING PROBLEM.

[00:02:36]SO, YOU KNOW, WE’RE KIND OF STUCK HERE AND WE’RE JUST HOPING TO GET SOME HELP FROM SOME FROM THE CITY AND THE STATE.

[00:02:42]THIS WEEK’S STORMS AND THE HURRICANE SEASON AHEAD REMIND RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE MIDTOWN AREA OF THE PROBLEMS THEY’LL LIKELY FACE.

[00:02:51]AND IT WON’T GET BETTER ANYTIME SOON.

[00:02:53]A NEW STUDY CALLS FOR AN EXPENSIVE FIX FOR THE FLOODING, MOSTLY CAUSED BY THE AREA’S TERRAIN.

[00:02:59]THAT INCLUDES LOW LYING AREAS THAT HAVE INADEQUATE DRAINAGE.

[00:03:03]AND AGAIN, WE’RE LIVE HERE ALONG INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY BOULEVARD, WHERE SOME OF THE BUSINESS OWNERS WE TALKED WITH THAT HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH CONSTANT FLOODING OVER THE YEARS, AND NOT JUST FROM HURRICANES LIKE A YOGA STUDIO.

[00:03:15]OTHER WORKOUT PLACE.

[00:03:16]THERE’S A RESTAURANT HERE, A BOOKSTORE AND A GROCERY STORE.

[00:03:19]THEY ALL SAY THAT THEY’RE STAYING.

[00:03:21]WHAT THEY WANT THE CITY TO DO IS TO COME UP WITH A BETTER POST-STORM PLAN, MAYBE EVEN CLOSING OFF STREETS LIKE THIS NEAR THE HALIFAX RIVER SO THE CARS AREN’T DRIVING THROUGH THERE AND SENDING WAVES OF WATER IN