Manatee County bypassed enough water to fill three Lake Manatee's during Debby

Manatee County released 18 billion gallons of water

Manatee County officials said Tuesday that enough water to fill three Lake Manatees was released during Tropical Storm Debby.

Residents continued to voice frustration over flooding in the surrounding area caused by the release to Manatee County commissioners and staff during Tuesday's public county commission meeting.

The county is now negotiating with a firm to conduct an independent investigation into flooding issues during the tropical storm and also tapped the Tampa Bay Regional Council to serve as a neutral auditor.

"The third-party analysis, the independent investigation, we are pursuing that," Deputy Administrator Evan Pilachowski said. "We agree that is a valuable step for us to take to really understand of what the impacts of the dam have been as well as what the underlying cause of any flooding that people have experienced throughout the last month."