PLANT CITY, Fla. (WFLA) – Some people dream of owning waterfront property.
But for Michael Mellon, who lives just outside Plant City in Hillsborough County, his situation is nothing short of a nightmare.
The home he’s lived in for 18 years is now surrounded by water, in some places on his property up to seven feet deep.
He and his family are forced to access their home by jon boat.
The culprit, he says, are wetlands behind his home that started spilling over in recent weeks. It’s the worst he’s ever seen in his time there.
Mellon reached out to the county to inquire about pumping out the water, as he says it did in 2004 when the flooding was nearly as bad.
This time, however, he claims the county has only given him the run around. As the water keeps rising and threatens his home, his wallet and patience are draining.
“I can’t go in and tell them what to do with their property,” Mellon said, referring to the problematic property behind his own. “I’m kind of at a loss.”
Mellon’s attempts to bring in dirt have proved futile. He can’t pump the water out, he says, because there’s nowhere for it to go.
His property problem isn’t the only flooding he’s currently dealing with. Mellon is also facing a flood of medical bills as he fights stage four lung cancer.
“With my wife’s health issues, and now my own…it’s a stress,” he explained.
8 On Your Side reached out to Hillsborough County to see if it had a solution. We didn’t hear back, but Mellon finally did late Thursday.
He’s hopeful that means his swampy nightmare may soon be over.
“It’s not like I haven’t been trying,” he said.
Mellon has yet to hear what, if any, action the county plans to take but he’s hopeful it will involve pumping out the water.
Long term, he’d like to see someone force some preventative measures on the adjacent property so that floodwaters of this magnitude can’t spill over again.
