WSLR News catches up with a homeowner recovering from catastrophic Phillippi Creek flooding.
Jennifer Johnston
Original Air Date: March 5, 2025
Host: Hurricane Debby’s deluge flooded hundreds of homeowners along Phillippi Creek, which runs through older suburbs of Sarasota. Among them was Allison Werner. We interviewed her in August, a day after the floods reached the door knobs on the ground floor of her three-story dream home. More than half a year later, WSLR News reporter Jennifer Johnston caught up with her to find out how she’s doing now.
Jennifer Johnston: Allison Werner is a realtor, and she found her dream home on a hidden dead-end street on a tributary of the Phillippi Creek in the Gulf Gate neighborhood, where she has lived since 2013. In an interview with WSLR News in August, she said she was completely surprised by the flooding and expressed how overwhelmed she felt by being displaced while life continued just a block away as if nothing had happened. She had planned to ride out Hurricane Debby in her home, but in the middle of the night, the flooding creek changed her plans. Neighbors helped evacuate her chickens and dogs by boat. She lost her vehicles, and four feet of water and mud entered her home.
We asked her how she is doing now, almost seven months later.
Allison Werner.
Allison Werner: I’m doing pretty well. My house is 99 percent put back together. In general, you can pretend it didn’t happen. I put everything back together the exact same way it was. But it was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life. Mostly, I’m recovered. To be honest, most of the time I feel great, and it feels good—it looks beautiful again. But last week, it randomly just hit me how sad I am that that all happened to me and to our area. I think, honestly—not to be too dramatic—but I think that’s a PTSD kind of thing, where you think you’re fine and then suddenly you’re crying for no reason about it.
JJ: Allison is now feeling better about politics and the Sarasota County Commission than in the days immediately after the storms. But, looking ahead, she also has a sense of urgency when it comes to preventing future flooding:
AW: I’m a real estate agent, and I have a few homes listed that flooded. It’s TBD on how buyers are going to be reacting. Especially as it gets in the rearview more, I’m sure it will be better, but you’re totally right. If this happens again, our property values will be zilch.
JJ: She believes Sarasota County could better control future flooding by dredging Phillippi Creek.
AW: Going into storm season, I feel like almost all bets are off, and if the creek is not dredged by then, then I’ll probably lose my mind.
JJ: Werner also believes new development upstream, around the headwaters of Phillippi Creek at Celery Fields, has played a role in the flooding downriver. This requires regular maintenance, she says.
Flooding at Smith Farm near the Celery Fields after Hurricane Debby. Photo by Tom Matrullo.
AW: All that development is making a huge difference, but really out of the Celery Fields. I mean, there used to be—everything around the library was fields, and now it’s apartments and a Publix and parking lots. I think that, in addition to the big rains, that was the major—because I’ve never seen rain on my street or on Tanglewood or rushing down Bermuda Brook before Debby. Ever. And I’ve lived here for 12 years.
I think that the dredging is definitely necessary. It’s absolutely essential that they do it and they do it immediately. But the second component of that is what we were just talking about: if the creek is now expected to carry this increased burden of water, dredging alone is not going to be enough. They’ve got to do something else to make more water be retained up there, and maybe it is buying up Smith Properties and digging a giant lake up there that can fill up and keep more water. I think it was all those factors that caused the effects of Debby in my neighborhood. My house was under four feet of water. It was the most insane thing you’ve seen in your life. It’s unreal. If I hadn’t lived through it, I wouldn’t believe it had happened. So I think that dredging is important, but it is certainly not the only thing that needs to happen and needs to happen fast.
JJ: The County Commission is considering their next steps now. Community members can review and comment on the Resilient SRQ draft action plan by April 3 at resilientsrq.net.
Reporting for WSLR News, Jennifer Johnston.
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