LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Bill Van Riper said he thinks his daughter’s home could be salvaged if repairs can get underway.
"This house is just decaying by the week, by the day because of the exposure to the elements. Some of the roofing is gone,” he said.
The home on Willow Wisp Drive, which belonged to Van Riper’s daughter, her husband, and their two children, is now deemed unsafe.
Inches and inches of rain that fell during Hurricane Milton washed out the ground under and between their home and their next-door neighbor’s.
A sign on the door reads “unsafe,” “do not occupy” and “enter at your own risk.”
Van Riper, who reached out to 8 On Your Side because the family was not receiving any help, said the property insurer denied their claim.
"What good is the insurance company if something like this is not covered?" asked Van Riper.
8 On Your Side contacted the family’s insurance company and has not yet received answers to our questions about the denial.
Van Riper said the family has hired a lawyer to appeal the denial.
Meanwhile, Van Riper has thoughts about what happened.
"I think it's a huge infrastructure failure actually because of the… rainwater storm drainage and the storm drainage is not performing as it should,” said Van Riper.
8 On Your Side asked the Polk County Roads and Drainage director Jay Jarvis about any system failures that may have occurred during the hurricane.
"Storm sewer systems are not designed to handle extreme events, such as Hurricane Milton. The County has no plans to try and address this issue for such extreme events,” said Jarvis in a statement.
Jarvis also said since the damage is on private property, the county will not take any action, and the issue will need to be addressed by the property owners and insurance companies.
Van Riper also expressed concern about the level of construction in the area that may have impacted runoff.