When it rains, it floods in a Gibsonton neighborhood
In the hours after an intense storm, lingering street-level flooding is common in Gibsonton. It's a nuisance and it typically sticks around for days every time it rains for more than an hour.
At the Eastwood Estates Mobile Home Park, neighbors navigate the flooded streets -- and unbeknownst to them the front yards -- like a blind slalom course.
With each turn at an intersection, it's a guessing game if the vehicle is on the pavement or on a lawn -- because of the foot of water covering the roads.
"This is normal for us. Every time it rains, this is what it is right here," Jessica Castillo said as a small wave crashed into the bank of her driveway. "It floods all the way inside my house, my porch, everywhere. All of this, all of that -- it's flooded. It doesn't have to rain more than an hour, and it's flooded. There are worms, trash comes into my yard. It's just disgusting and it smells."
Jessica often thinks she lives on an island, since she's somehow surrounded by water a couple hundred yards off of U.S. 301.
Her home is on a corner lot and bears the full force of crashing waves with each passing car.
By 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Jessica said the water had gone down significantly, but it was still too deep for small cars to pass through.
At one of two neighborhood intersections (the third is closed for security purposes), there's a metal sign that reads: "Road Under Water." Neighbors say that might as well be cemented in place because it hasn't moved in months.
Jessica told FOX 13 she has talked to management several times with no success.
"It's been happening for years. They just don't care. They don't care because they don’t live here. This is not their home. That's why they don't care," she explained.