From the Orange County Newsroom and Staff Reports
Recently, staff members from Orange County Utilities and Public Works Departments participated in hands-on training about innovative flood control methods – using water to keep rising waters at bay. Trainers from New Orleans-based U.S. Flood Control conducted the session for more than 40 Orange County employees at the South Water Reclamation Facility off Sand Lake Road.
Flat, collapsible orange and black tubes comprise the Tiger Dam System™, and resemble tiger tails after they become filled with water from a nearby fire hydrant. The tubes were then stacked into a pyramid, as well as different configurations that included turns and intersections of tubes to demonstrate how they work.
Related: Prepare for the Storm - How to use sandbags for flood protection.
Essentially, the water-filled tubes soon became a barrier that can keep a structure dry during a hurricane, when flood waters impact Central Florida the most. One attendee noted that the tubes were “simple but effective” as a safeguard for strategic infrastructure like gravity sewer pump stations, which can overflow in flood conditions.
When the tubes were filled, U.S. Flood Control’s trainer Kyle Russel, P.E., even jumped up on the top of the water-filled structure using it like a trampoline to demonstrate stability.
The trainees will be deployed to erect these barriers should Orange County be in the path of a major storm. In total, Orange County purchased over 3,600 feet – the equivalent of nearly 20 Magic Kingdom Cinderella Castles stacked on top of each other.
In 2022, Hurricane Ian dumped record-setting rain in the area for days that resulted in flood damage. Deploying these Tiger Dams™ is just another way that Orange County continually improves how it prepares and responds when a future storm hits our area.
In 2024, a Tiger Dam was installed to slow the flooding waters from Wekiva Village in Apopka.
For more hurricane information, go to www.ocfl.net/storm.
