Orlo Vista is 77% complete with flood mitigation project ahead of hurricane season

During the 2024 hurricane season, the area will benefit from a significant increase in flood protection.

Orange County leaders say their $23.2 million drainage improvement project is 77% complete in Orlo Vista.

Crews have already hauled out 23,000 dump trucks worth of dirt from the three retention ponds to help minimize flooding.

Orange County says there is still some work to do, but it plans to survive the next hurricane season.

Orange County Public Safety Director Danny Banks says most of the project is complete, with ten additional feet of vertical storage created in the ponds.

"We cannot undo what happened in Hurricane Ian, that was a tragedy. That amount of water had never occurred in Orange County in 100 years. What is remarkable is the fact that the county took that experience and learned from it," Banks said.

However, due to nationwide supply chain issues, the new pump station is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025.