Manatee County needs to study reasons for Lakewood Ranch flooding

Lakewood Ranch's Paul and Cindy Caputo were supposed to be sitting on Ka'anapali Beach in Hawaii.

They had a flight scheduled for the morning of Aug. 6, but a rude visitor arrived in Lakewood Ranch the day before.

Courtesy image

The area felt the wrath of the outer bands of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby late on Aug. 4 and into Aug. 5, flooding many of the homes in the Caputo's Summerfield neighborhood.

The Caputos never made their flight.

"I should be on the beach with a drink in my hand, and instead I am dragging carpet out of the house," Paul Caputo said.

Paul Caputo is angry. He moved to his home on Tumbleweed Trail a year ago in August. The home was built in 1996 and Caputo said it never had experienced flooding even though the Braden River is just "10 yards from the end of my property."

That all changed on the morning of Aug. 5.

"The rain had taken a break Monday morning around 10:30, and I took my dog for a walk," Caputo said. "It's was about 11 a.m. when the water started coming up. Before I knew it, the water was in the house. The (East Manatee Fire Rescue) firefighters came to take my wife to safety. It took about 40 minutes from when the water entered the street to when it started coming in the house."

He started to wonder how the water could come into the neighborhood so fast. He began to talk to his neighbors.

"I am not a geologist," he said. "But everyone in my neighborhood is blaming the opening of the (Lake Manatee) dam. We are not in a flood zone."

How could that be the case? The mouth of the Braden River flows into the Manatee River miles downstream from the dam.

Could a rush of water — sent down the river to protect the Lake Manatee Dam as the lake rose to unsafe levels — cause the Braden River to back up all the way to Lakewood Ranch?

Consider that the mouth of the Braden River, at the Manatee River, is 6 miles from a weir that was built first in 1936 to form Ward Lake, now Evers Reservoir. It's another six or seven miles back to Lakewood Ranch.

It seems unlikely. However, some residents at Jiggs Landing reported seeing several feet of water pouring over the weir on Aug. 5, but also a time when the Braden River, which should have been flowing, seemed very still.

Manatee County needs to put resources into investigating this storm to get a better understanding of why neighborhoods in Lakewood Ranch that had never flooded, were under water.

That study, preferably compiled by a private company, could also study dam procedures during extreme storms, as well as communication with those most likely to be affected when significant amounts of water are released from the dam.

That study might determine everything was done perfectly by Manatee County, but that would be good for the citizens to hear. If there were problems, they could be fixed. Does anyone think this storm is going to be a 100-year occurrence as we move forward?

It is likely that Lakewood Ranch and the Braden River were caught in the outer bands of a 100-year storm with those bands picking up unbelievable amounts of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Lakewood Ranch received up to 16 inches of rain in a 48-hour period.

But for those who have damaged homes, that seems too simple an answer.

Manatee County issued some answers about the storm on Aug. 12

The county reported that water had been released from Lake Manatee for several days before the storm "per normal operations and to lower the lake level." The lake was lowered from 39.5 feet to 36 feet elevation ahead of Debby.

A county statement said, "The dam functioned as designed before, during and after the storm with water flowing through the primary and secondary spillways, Utility Department staff has done initial assessment and there is no apparent damage to the dam or spillways. We expect to perform a follow-up assessment in the coming weeks."

Initial county wide damage reports show $55 million in residential damage. In Manatee County, 308 homes are reported as having storm damage, although that number could increase as reports come into the county.

The county also responded to the question about water being released from the dam causing the Braden River to back up.

"By the time the water released from the dam would have made it down the (Manatee) river, the Braden River already was receding," was the county's response.

A stream gauge station at the River Club Boulevard Bridge showed the river peaked at 19.62 feet, which was more than a foot higher than the 18.26 feet considered to be a 100-year flood stage as referenced by the North American Vertical Datum.

That would seem to show there was just too much water for any stormwater system to handle. Even so, Lakewood Ranch residents still want answers.

"I am living day-to-day," said Caputo, a retired dentist. "It is human nature to want to find fault. I can't unequivocally say it is the fault of the county, but it certainly seems that way."

He said releasing water down the Manatee River was "the lesser of two evils," with a nod to the fact the county had to protect the Lake Manatee Dam while a few neighborhoods were the price to pay.

"We were lucky," Caputo said. "We only lost 15 to 20% of our furniture. We lost all the carpeting in three bedrooms. We lost three feet of drywall around the entire house."

That being said, Caputo said he has neighbors in their 80s who have no place to live for the time being.

"It's been a shock," he said. "But we're all safe."