JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A concerning situation has emerged on Jacksonville’s Westside, where unhoused individuals are using storm drains as makeshift shelters.
News4JAX obtained a cell phone video of an unhoused man passing pillows, and what appeared to be a bag of fast food, to another presumably unhoused person who was inside a storm drain at the corner of Normandy Boulevard and Fouraker Road.
The woman who provided News4JAX with the video wanted to remain anonymous, but spoke about what she saw.
“Before this one, it was a way younger guy, and he was passing down food into the storm drain,” she said before further explaining how she felt when she realized people were living under the street.
“It’s very scary knowing someone could be living under our streets. They could have small children. That is a storm drain. We’ve had terrible weather,” the woman said.
Knowing the city experienced recent rainfall that could have collected inside the drain, News4JAX contacted the city’s Public Works Department and provided the department with an unblurred version of the video. A spokesperson for that department contacted the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department to make sure no one was trapped inside the drain.
The public works spokesperson said the city will work with Florida Department Of Transportation to make sure no other storm drains in that area are being used as shelters.
Living in a storm drain with dirty runoff not only increases the risk of someone getting stuck, but it also increases the risk of developing an illness, and those are not the only concerns.
The intersection of Normandy and Fouraker is heavily trafficked, so there is always a danger of being struck by a vehicle while entering or exiting the storm drain. That potential danger is seen in the video as cars turn the corner while the unhoused man is handing pillows to the person inside the storm drain.
“He wasn’t paying attention to them, and they were not paying attention to him,” said the woman who provided the video to News4JAX.
The public works spokesperson said the department will work to identify individuals using the storm drains and connect them with available services, including access to city shelters.
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