SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris said Friday that flooding is expected to continue through next week after Hurricane Milton.
The St. John’s River, which flows north through Central Florida and through Lake Harney, Lake Monroe, and Lake Jessup, has not crested yet. According to Harris, water levels will continue to increase.
“We’re showing a leveling off, not really a crest at this point,” said Harris. “We definitely look like we’re going to be in major flood.”
A sandbag site opened at the fire station in Geneva on Friday for families who live near the river or lakes.
“If they know what happened last time, and when I say last time I mean Tropical Storm Fay,” said Harris. “Think about getting some sandbags.”
Harris says if projections hold it will stay below the record flooding we experienced after Hurricane Ian in 2022. However, people should still expect water to surround homes and cover roads, possibly even State Road 46.
“We know with Tropical Storm Fay, which was back in 2008 for those that were around 46 became a problem so we are making contingency plans, said Harris. “When we say, ‘contingency plan,’ that doesn’t mean it’s going to close. It just means that we need to go ahead and plan for that now.”
Erica McCall lives on Bluefish Road in Geneva and says it’s difficult to access her neighborhood because of flooding on Retreat Road. Access to Mullet Lake Park Road is impossible because part of the road was washed away during the storm.
McCall says thankfully there’s no water inside any homes.
“It’s all on the road right now, but the river is going to continue to come up and the last storm it was 7 inches from coming in the house, so I hope it doesn’t get that far.”
Whitcomb Drive is still passable at this point, but families who live nearby are getting sandbags this weekend to protect their property.
“Against the boat garage, against the shed door, against the two back doors that we have. All of that is pretty low. My neighbors are doing the same,” said Gabriel Madlang.
Gabriel Madlang says his street looks similar to what it looked like a month after Hurricane Ian. There is some water on the road, but it’s passable.
“I think we’re at about 8 and a half feet,” said Madlang about the water level in the St. John’s River above Lake Harney. “We’ll have water on the road at about 9 feet. It’s supposed to get up to 10.2 feet, according to the projections right now.”
Seminole County is keeping an eye on flood-prone neighborhoods and has rescue vehicles ready to respond if needed.
Thursday, the fire department’s new 4x4 high-water truck was used to reach a resident on Bandit Way in Geneva during a medical emergency.
County officials are also providing tarps, food and water, bug spray, and other supplies. A disaster distribution site has been set up at the Rural Heritage Center in Geneva.
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