Florida woman clogs stormwater pipe with concrete, flooding neighborhood

In March, Diane Goglas became frustrated with a broken stormwater pipe running through an easement alongside her backyard. It was causing sinkholes in her lawn. She sent a letter to her neighbors stating that the pipe "was installed on my property, without my permission." The letter informed them that she intended to seal the pipe with concrete. "I advise you of this because once I close that pipe off, you will have a drain problem that will back up on the road and on your property."

Well, she was wrong about the pipe being on her property, but she was right about the flooding. Shortly after Goglas fulfilled her promise to clog the pipe, the flooding began."Throughout the summer, homeowners complained to the county the clogged pipe flooded roads and yards in their middle-class neighborhood of about 100 homes and condos off Wekiva Springs Road near Longwood," reports The Orlando Sentinel. "They said roads became nearly impassable, especially after heavy thunderstorms. Floodwaters crept up driveways and into garages." Homeowners resorted to installing pumps to divert the water away from the roads.

In June 2024, residents filed a lawsuit to compel Goglas to remove the concrete or replace the pipe. The county issued a code violation to Goglas in May 2024 for damaging the stormwater system, and she was ordered to post a $15,000 bond for the estimated cost of replacing the conduit.

"Goglas did not return calls for comment," reports the Sentinel. Meanwhile, Goglas's attorney, Gregory Wilson, stopped representing her.

Here's a video from WKMG News that shows how bad the flooding is.

@wkmg_news6

A neighborhood in Longwood has been struggling for months after a local woman poured concrete into a drainpipe on her property. #Longwood #SeminoleCounty #Flooding #Storms

♬ original sound – News 6 WKMG

Previously:
Smug neighbor's property line grudge costs him big time in fence feud
Man conquers noisy neighbors with 'magic'
Garage sale displeases neighbor
Bamboo gone wild and neighbors from hell: Redditors share homeowning nightmares