On Saturday night, Advanced Roof Technology Office Coordinator Brandon Massimini remotely logged on to the company’s security system to check out the property during a downpour.
Waist-high floodwaters overwhelmed the business’s Avocado Avenue site in the dark, hitting the white concrete retaining wall recently installed by Brightline along the east side of the property.News 6 Partners Florida Today reported.
“I looked at the cameras and saw that the whole street was flooded. The whole parking lot here was completely flooded and there was a stream. That’s how fast the water is flowing,” Massimini said on Monday. I stood outside the Advanced Roof Technology building in the morning and reminisced.
“And the whole backlot here was also in the water,” said Massimini.
Steven Scott, owner of Advanced Roof Technology, blames Brightline’s retaining wall for exacerbating flooding in low-lying areas just west of the railroad tracks over the past year or so. Home Wreckers co-owners Chad and Brandi Lekander similarly say he lost at least one work truck in Saturday’s floods.
On Sunday, Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey shared a photo of the flooding at Massimini’s Advanced Roof Technology in a Facebook post. Some photos showed a green metal trash can hovering over the company property from an unknown location and blocking a Brightline drainpipe.
Alfrey said he would consult with city hall staff and write to Brightline asking for a report detailing the effects of the flooding in the Augary area and potential relief measures. said it measured 29 inches of flood against the Brightline retaining wall.
“Obviously to me, this water is a huge boost to their project,” says Alfrey. “My concern is the potential for flooding in the event of a tropical storm.”
Further details for Monday remained unknown.
“We are investigating the concerns raised by Mayor Alfrey and have a crew on the ground assessing the situation,” Brightline spokeswoman Katie Mitzner said.
Meanwhile, City Hall staff are still assessing multiple neighborhoods in Melbourne that experienced stormwater runoff problems during Saturday’s heavy rain event, deputy mayor Jenny Lam said.
“Based on NOAA rainfall data for Melbourne International Airport, 2.54 inches of rain fell in six hours. We decided it was bigger than the storm,” Lam said in an email.
Brightline is building a $2.7 billion passenger rail extension route between Orlando International Airport and South Florida. Crews are installing a second set of rails along the Florida East Coast Railroad corridor from Indian River County up O’Garry to Cocoa.
Advanced Roof Technology and Home Wreckers adjoin Brightline concrete retaining walls along Avocado Avenue. This retaining wall parallels the railroad tracks between Aurora Road and Lake Washington Road in the Booker T. Washington area.
Chad Lechander said the Brightline crew removed the drain when installing the wall. He believes it could have prevented Saturday’s flooding, which invaded Homewreckers’ stores, vehicles, storage units, and equipment.
“There was a ditch about six feet deep and six to eight feet wide that soaked up all this water. Well, they got rid of it,” Lechander said.
Flooding was reported throughout Brevard County during Saturday’s storm, including elsewhere in Augary. The National Weather Service has issued a flood advisory, along with a special marine warning for boaters to watch out for strong winds and steep waves.
In all, Indian Harbor Beach received 5.07 inches of rain during Saturday’s “heavy rain event,” NWS reported. The agency’s offices on Croton Road near Melbourne Orlando International Airport saw 3.48 inches of rain, while a weather station near Palm Shores registered more than 4 inches.
The amount of rainfall decreased in a relatively short period of time, said Scott Kelly, a meteorologist at the Melbourne NWS station. A low pressure trough remained in Florida for several days last week, saturating the soil and bringing excessive rainfall to various areas.
On Monday morning, Home Wreckers personnel emptied the flooded storage area and placed the soggy items on a table in the sun to dry. Chad Lechander said he will finalize damage assessments for insurance claims.
Massimini has been working at Advanced Roof Technology since 2016. 2017’s Hurricane Irma flooded company grounds, he said, but it was the worst since.
Scott said he had complained to Brightline in emails over the past year that the wall was increasing flood damage.
“For the last 20 to 25 years, this has been an ongoing situation. says Mr.
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