In Seminole County, officials say they're seeing historic flooding after Hurricane Ian.
WMFE's environmental reporter Amy Green went to one of those neighborhoods, and she joined "All Things Considered" host Nicole Darden Creston to share what she saw and heard.
Amy Green:
I went to the Spring Oaks neighborhood in Altamonte Springs where dozens of homes are inundated or they are on roads that are impassable. One estimate is that at least forty homes there are affected. The areas along the Little Wekiva River and it's in a floodplain. It has experienced flooding in the past, but nothing like this. Many residents have evacuated and some have been rescued. I talked with Marc McFarlane and his wife Cynthia, who live there with their 12-year-old son. They described the situation as shocking. Cynthia rode out the storm with family across town, but Marc was there with his son. The next morning, the water was within feet of their house and Marc worried it might come higher.
"I had to move my car out of the garage and drive it through the back yards back here, just in case we needed to get out in a hurry because it looked like it might come all the way up to the house," said McFarlane.
Amy Green:
But that didn't happen. The house was not inundated. When I met them, they were in their front yard with their son and a few of his friends and had a couple of kayaks out for getting around, Nikki.
Nicole Darden Creston:
And what about residents whose homes were inundated?
Amy Green:
Well, I talked with Doug Scott who lives kind of across the street from the McFarlanes. Scott lives there with his wife and son and they have about six to eight inches of water inside their house. When I met Scott, he was on his way back to the house in waders. In fact, Marc McFarlane and I had paddled out there in one of the McFarlanes' kayaks. Scott told me he and his family had been rescued by first responders and were staying with family around the corner. I asked him what they were planning to do next.
"This is our life right now," said Scott. "So we just take it step by step and trust God. That's all. He has provided for us in the past, he will provide for us in the future. Simple as that."
Nicole Darden Creston:
So Amy, what is next for these people?
Amy Green:
Well, it'll be at least a few days before the water subsides in some of these places. The good news is that there's not much rain in the forecast. And I'm sure that comes as a relief to everyone listening. I talked with Altamonte City Commissioner Jim Turney who lives in that area. He points out though, that all that water will have to go somewhere. Eventually it will flow into the Wekiva River and then the St. Johns River and then out to the Atlantic Ocean. But he says it'll take time.
"It's a process that takes days or weeks," said Turney. "There'll be flooding in Seminole County - maybe not here in Altamonte Springs, but in general along the St. Johns River - for weeks to come. It'll take weeks for it to go down to normal levels."
Amy Green:
So it'll be a while before life gets back to normal for the Central Floridians in these places.
