Ian is long gone, but water levels continue to rise in central Florida

Geneva, Florida – Central Florida residents wore fishing waders, boots, and bug spray to canoe or walk through streets where floodwaters continued to rise on Sunday, even though four days after the flood. We kayaked home. Hurricane Ian torn state.

The water flooded homes and streets that were passable only a day or two ago.

After kayaking Sunday morning at his home by Lake Harney off North Jungle Street in the Seminole County countryside north of Orlando, Ben Bertat found 4 inches (10 centimeters) of water. rice field. Just a day ago there was no water.

“All this water has to flow into the lake, which will make things worse,” Bertat said, pointing to the water flooding the road. “When the ground becomes saturated, all this swamp is filled with water and can’t accept any more water. It doesn’t look like it’s diminishing.”

Gabriel Madrang kayaked through 1 meter (3 feet) of water at his home, carrying sandbags to hold off 5 centimeters (2 inches) of water entering his home.

“My house is closer to the water,” Madrang said before paddling to his house on Sunday morning. “Right now, I’m going to punch as much as I can and hope and pray.”

Two hours later, his house was still not flooded, and more sandbags had been collected covering the back of the house.

“Let’s see what happens,” he said.

The streets of Madlang are in a flood zone, and while most of the residents with mortgages on the streets of about 30 houses had flood insurance, some who had lived there for decades Madling said he had no insurance.

Seminole County officials warned residents this weekend that flooding could last for several days, especially in areas near the St. said.

“Even if the rain stops, there is still the possibility of flooding,” Alan Harris, director of the Seminole’s emergency management office, said at a news briefing.

Despite many hurricanes, Tara Casel said the streets near Lake Harney had never flooded like they did on Sunday morning. She and her husband used a canoe to get to the house, but were afraid there would be water.

“We were here last night and it was pretty bad,” she said. “But it looks worse this morning.”

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the resident’s surname to be Madlang instead of Madling.

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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter. https://twitter.com/MikeSchneider AP.

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https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2022/10/02/ian-is-long-gone-but-water-keeps-rising-in-central-florida/ Ian is long gone, but water levels continue to rise in central Florida

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