Pasco County man with airboat helps Ridge Manor residents still dealing with flooding after Hurricane Milton

RIDGE MANOR, Fla. – Nearly a month after Hurricane Milton and weeks after the Withlacoochee River peaked, there were some Ridge mansion Residents are still dealing with more than one and a half meters of flooding. But a local hero from Pasco County is helping people with his airboat.

Sean Arnold, the owner of Diesel Doctor Marine Services, has dedicated countless hours to the community just south of Cortez Boulevard.

“I’m hooking up the airboat and basically going to these areas in need and starting to do what I can to help whoever I can,” he said.

RELATED: Ridge Manor residents salvage what they can from homes surrounded by flooding

Dozens of residents have been stranded by the floodwaters.

“It’s very deep, and then it gets high and there are three houses, and then it gets deep again, and then you go down another road, and then it’s seven feet high,” he said.

Arnold and his friends launch the airboat from the completely flooded Lakewood Drive.

“I said, ‘You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to be here every day at five in the morning.’ Any child or parent that needs a shuttle, I will come get you, no matter what, as soon as you come back, I will be there,” he said.

READ: Residents of Ridge Manor Surrounded by Devastating Floods: ‘Nowhere Else to Go’

Arnold said he had to navigate the unknown in the waters.

“We hit washers, dryers, push mowers, generators, propane tanks and a lot of debris. A lot of docks,” he said.

Izzy Gonzalez was directly affected by the flooding at Ridge Manor.

“That water hasn’t even dropped 10 inches. You could see the waterline. Right now it’s about 6 feet high,” he explained. “Two of my pigs drowned.”

Gonzalez said it’s a living nightmare.

A community center is available at Ridge Manor Community Center for residents in need. The Red Cross provides food, laundry services and toilets.

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