Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN) Storm Center | By Leslie Hudson
Many Floridians are struggling to regroup after back-to-back hurricanes: Helene and then Milton, slammed into Florida. Now, several communities that straddle rivers are trying to navigate river flooding a week after Hurricane Milton made landfall. Hurricane Milton blasted some parts of the Sunshine State with nearly 20 inches of rain in a matter of hours. Several central and northern Florida lakes and rivers may continue to remain above flood stage for weeks and perhaps months.
Officials say waters will slowly recede from city streets and low-lying areas. But people who have dealt with or escaped power outages and property damage from Milton’s powerful winds, may face delayed rising waters from nearby rivers.
The Withlacoochee River in Trillby, Florida, is expected to crest Saturday morning, and will slowly recede over the next several days, according to the National Water Prediction Service. But low-lying flooding will continue for most of next week.
Many residents who live along the river in Croom have been trying to mitigate additional flooding as much as possible as well, but there is ongoing flooding in this area. The Withlacoochee River at Croom will crest Friday evening.
St. Johns River could take weeks to recede from major flood stage
The St. Johns River is a major rivers in Florida. It runs through Volusia County and flows for 310 miles along Florida’s eastern coast. Records in Volusia County show more than 51,000 homes have reported flood damage, with approximately $267 million in property damages as well.
Flooding extends over much of the length of the St. Johns River, with ongoing major flooding in Astor, Deland and Geneva.
The St. Johns only changes 27 feet in elevation from start to finish, meaning it only drops about one inch per mile, leading to a very slow draining process. Tidal flow at the mouth of the river near Mayport north of Jacksonville can reverse the flow of the river for as much as 160 miles.
To compound the flooding, king tides and strong onshore flow off the Atlantic are working to add additional resistance to the river drainage process – and even cause the river to rise again. Because of this, the river is forecast to remain above major flood stage at least into next week with conditions expected to level off around October 25th.
The St. Johns flooded in early October 2022 by hurricanes Ian and Nicole, and it took until the week of Thanksgiving to recede below flood stage at Geneva – and until the day after Christmas at Astor.
Other rivers that have endured major flooding from Hurricane Milton’s flooding rains include: Deep Creek, Haw Creek, Cypress Creek, Ocklawaha and Hillsborough Rivers. All of these rivers reached record flood crests as a result of Milton.
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