Nearly a week after the rain stopped falling, standing water still covers streets in Briar Bay, a West Palm Beach community off Jog Road west of Florida's Turnpike, and residents say they still do not know why. Families describe being cut off from school, work and groceries, a vehicle declared a total loss after floodwater seeped inside, and a homeowners association caught between agencies as it tries to get a straight answer about the neighborhood's pumps.
The flooding first described by WPTV traces back to a historic rain event that hammered Palm Beach County at the start of November. West Palm Beach logged 7.39 inches of rain on Nov. 2 alone, shattering the city's previous daily record of 2.52 inches set all the way back in 1925, according to CBS12. The two-day total for Nov. 1-2 reached 11.67 inches, the outlet reported, more than three times the city's typical rainfall for the entire month of November.
A Week Of Stagnant Water And Daily Disruption
Reporter Zitlali Solache visited Briar Bay on Sunday and found standing water still blanketing the streets days after the storms cleared. Resident Dihan Tweed told WPTV the water has been stagnant like this for one week now. Student Aurora Dihan described what started as an unusual, almost novel moment quickly curdling into fear and exhaustion as the water kept rising around her home.
Neighbor Dwinette Feemster said some people were trapped at home for an entire week without school, work or groceries, according to the same WPTV report. Some residents have taken to parking their vehicles outside the complex entirely just to avoid the high water, and others have reported seeing dead animals in the floodwater, while trash collection in the community has been disrupted.
A Totaled Car And A Makeshift Barrier At The Door
For Tweed's family, the damage went beyond inconvenience. Floodwater got into her vehicle, which was later taken to a repair shop and declared a total loss, she told the station. At the same time, rising water reached the family's doorstep, forcing them to install a makeshift barrier just to keep it from flowing into the home.
Resident Munzareen Mirza called the flooding a health hazard and said residents have gotten no straight answer from anyone about why it is taking so long to clear, per WPTV's reporting. That frustration has pushed residents to seek answers directly from their homeowners association, even as they say they feel caught between entities each pointing elsewhere for responsibility.
HOA Treasurer Says Pumps Weren't Running
Phillip Hutchinson, treasurer of the Tides at Briar Bay HOA, said the association learned that pumps belonging to the Hamal Community Development District were not running last Sunday. Hutchinson said advance steps had not been taken to remove enough water ahead of the storm to prevent the flooding, and added that he has lived in the community for more than 20 years and has never seen water remain this long.
HOA representatives have since contacted both the city of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County, seeking funding and emergency relief, WPTV reported. Residents want answers about what happened with the pumps, why lake levels weren't lowered ahead of the storm, and whether the equipment currently in place can even remove the floodwater that remains. WPTV noted it has not independently established why the pumps were not running or which entity bears responsibility for the prolonged flooding.
Who's Actually In Charge Of The Water
The confusion over responsibility is not unique to Briar Bay. Flood control across the region is split between the South Florida Water Management District, which runs the regional system, and cities, counties and local drainage districts, which manage smaller neighborhood systems, according to CBS12. The district said parts of the affected area received more than 10 inches of rain in just 36 hours during the event.
Records from the Hamal Community Development District show the board approved a $29,750 quote in November 2023 for panel upgrades at the Briar Bay pump station, and ratified a separate agreement that same meeting for wastewater pumping station monitoring and maintenance services. At that 2023 meeting, a representative also said the Briar Bay stormwater pump station's software had last been upgraded 20 years earlier. Those records document the district's past spending and statements but do not establish the current condition or performance of the pumps during this month's flooding.
A Countywide Strain On Emergency Crews
Briar Bay's prolonged flooding is one piece of a much larger emergency response across Palm Beach County. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue crews responded to more than 1,600 emergency calls countywide from Nov. 1 through Nov. 3, a total that included all 911 calls and not just flooding-related ones, according to WPTV.
In the Century Village area near West Palm Beach, firefighters responded to more than 70 emergency calls in a single night as nearly 100 residents became trapped in stranded vehicles, the station reported. The scale of the flooding has also pushed county commissioners to ask broader questions about how Palm Beach County plans drainage amid future growth, WFLX reported.
For now, Briar Bay residents say their priority is simple: getting the floodwater out as soon as possible, whoever ends up responsible for making it happen.
