Flooding

After residents said they got little warning before Lake Manatee Dam releases flooded homes during Tropical Storm Debby, Manatee County turned to Peregrine, a real-time data system that helps officials plan releases and warn people downstream.

Historic November flooding washed away a critical access road in Palm Bay Estates, cutting off dozens of residents from vehicle access. With only a makeshift footpath connecting them to the outside world, first responders and World Central Kitchen stepped in to help.

On Monday, flash flooding impacted hundreds of thousands of residents in the Melbourne area. Meteorologist Jessie Schaper with the NWS office says additional river flooding is expected.

This year's El Niño likely contributed to the storm, and it's only growing stronger.

Over the past four days, the highest rainfall totaled about 13 to 15 inches between Weston and Sunrise, George Rizzuto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said Wednesday.

A historic November deluge brought at least 22-30 inches of rain to Florida's east coast, with some locations exceeding NOAA's 1-in-1,000-year rainfall thresholds. As a powerful El Niño develops, the extraordinary flooding raises questions about what lies ahead for Florida's normally drier months.

Cars are nearly submerged, some areas are seeing waist-deep flooding, and schools have been forced to close. And in true Florida fashion, some residents are even using kayaks and paddleboards to get around, or joking about pulling their airboat off their trailer.

“As soon as you get past sandbags the rules get real shades of gray.”

What are the challenges to running a food bank, particularly when there are high fuel prices and high grocery prices to contend with? The shelves of a local pantry ran dry multiple times last month.

Florida's water management districts depend on property taxes to fund about a third of their work preventing floods, securing the drinking water supply and conserving wetlands.

The project was opposed by many business owners in the busy SoHo corridor of Hyde Park who are afraid the construction will affect customers for the next three or four years.

Many businesses along the busy South Howard Avenue corridor are opposed to the project, fearing periodic road closures will impact their livelihoods.