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Sarasota County residents concerned about clogged drainage ditches: ‘Everybody is getting a little panicked'

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Published  June 11, 2025 5:05pm EDT
Sarasota County
FOX 13 News
Phillippi Creek ditch concerns

Phillippi Creek ditch concerns

Sarasota County residents are asking the county for help because they fear clogged drainage ditches will cause flooding during the next hurricane. FOX 13’s Kimberly Kuizon reports.

The Brief

    • Neighbors off Sawyer Road say they’ve seen more flooding in recent years and say drainage ditches meant to carry water to Phillippi Creek are clogged.
    • Sarasota County says ditch clearing is pending.
    • Neighbors are asking for help before another hurricane arrives.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Residents living off Sawyer Road say ditches supposed to carry water out of neighborhoods and into Sarasota’s Phillippi Creek are clogged with weeds, trees and debris, and they want help before another hurricane arrives. 

The backstory:

Off of Warren and Jamaica Streets, neighbors have gotten creative to protect their properties. 

What they're saying:

"You can see these bricks and boards and anything to slow the water down," said Gary Clawson. 

Clawson said water that runs through the ditches along his home and others has become a problem. 

"We put it up just to keep the water and dirt from eroding away," Clawson explained. 

During the 2024 hurricane season, Clawson watched as some of his neighbors nearly flooded out. 

"What happens is the ditch fills up and then it wants to overspill because it can’t drain properly, it’s not cleaned. It’s eroding people’s property at some point," he shared. 

Several ditches off of Jamaica Street are overgrown and it’s difficult to tell some of them are drains, while others are filled with leaves and debris. 

Some residents are concerned that road construction has forced the water onto their properties. 

"I don’t believe the county does enough to take care of just the rain ditches and bar ditches that they have," Clawson shared. "They come once a year and cut it down and then walk away and leave the debris in the ditch, plugs everything up." 

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With rain starting back up, Clawson and others hope they won’t be forgotten. 

"Everybody is going to be a little panicked and scared because you don’t know. You’re not really allowed to go in and clear in and take care of it because the county will get upset with you. Most of the time it’s hard to get the county to come out to be honest with you," he said. 

The other side:

In a statement to FOX 13 Sarasota County said: 

"With the number of storms that this area experienced last year, it's important for residents to understand the county’s level of service for roads allows up to 12 inches of flooding for rain events with 10 inches of rain in 24 hrs. At least two of last year’s storms exceeded this rainfall intensity."

In regards to a homeowner’s concern about erosion off of Jamaica Street the county said: 

"For more than five years, concerns from a homeowner on Jamaica Street have been addressed by the Public Works department. On-site visits with the homeowner have taken place by the supervisor, the stormwater operations manager and the stormwater engineer. We have removed the trees in the ditch alongside the property, and the stormwater engineer did not find any obvious signs of erosion. The engineer said that the only contributing factor for erosion on the property that he observed were the downspouts from her gutters"

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The recommendation from stormwater engineering was to clean out the pipe near her property and remove the tree debris from the ditch – all of which have been completed.
Sarasota County said ditch clearing remains pending. 

The Source: This story was written with information collected by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon. 

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