Florida river flooding continues following Hurricane Milton’s deluge
As some rivers recede, other waterways in central Florida will remain high following record flooding from Milton last week.
“Nobody expects it to happen to them,” Frank told reporters as he worked to clear out his house, devastated by river flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
After Hurricane Milton blasted Florida with 5-20 inches of rain in a matter of hours, central and northern Florida lakes and rivers may continue to remain above flood stage for weeks and perhaps months, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
The amount of rain that Milton dumped on the central and northern parts of the Florida Peninsula, mainly along and north of Interstate 4, is equivalent to five to 10 times the historical average rainfall for October in many cases. As feared, even Florida's sandy soil could not absorb the deluge completely.
As water recedes from city streets and low-lying areas, people who have dealt with or escaped power outages and property damage from Milton's powerful winds may face delayed rising water from a nearby river.
Most rivers in Florida have headwaters that are only a couple dozen feet above sea level before draining to the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico or bays. Because of this, they tend to have a slow flow and behave like larger rivers, like the Mississippi, even though the volume of water they handle is much less.
It can take many days, a week or more for waters to surge and recede, unlike in hilly or mountainous terrain, where flooding cycles in a matter of hours to a few days.
National Weather Service hydrologists and AccuWeather meteorologists are monitoring Florida rivers where more rain fell than the sandy soil can absorb. Due to the magnitude of runoff entering the river systems, major to record flooding has occurred. While some rivers are receding, the recession on some streams may be painstakingly slow.
Some roads, farmland, homes and businesses will be flooded, and in some cases, the level of flooding may be worse than that of Hurricane Ian in September 2022 and Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The St. Johns River at Astor, Florida, set a record this past weekend with a level reaching 4.81 feet, topping the old high mark of 4.7 set in 2022. Water levels will only slowly fall in the coming days, and will remain at major flood stage through this week and could take many weeks to months before dropping below flood stage.
The Hillsborough River at Morris Bridge, Florida, blew away the old record of 34.7 feet set in 2017. The level reached 38.16 feet late on Oct. 12, due to Milton's torrential rainfall.
Aside from river flooding, the weather will generally cooperate for recovery, damage assessment and cleanup operations in the coming days over the Florida Peninsula. Humidity levels will be lower in the northern and central counties of the state and help to chase away lingering showers. Some downpours will be produced by a flow of air originating from the Atlantic from the central counties on south.
The weather will largely cooperate in Helene-ravaged interior areas of the southeastern United States as well. The only potential problem may be patchy morning fog that can briefly inhibit airlift operations.
However, a stiff breeze from the east and northeast for much of this week will raise seas and surf to the point where significant beach erosion will occur, and coastal flooding is possible at times of high tide. Coastal flooding-prone cities such as Miami and Charleston, South Carolina, could be at risk.
"Officials considering repairing beaches from storm damage due to the onslaught of tropical systems and other storms in recent months along the southern Atlantic coast may want to wait until the pattern subsides later this month, as additional damage is likely," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok stated.
Experts urge that people cleaning up after Milton (and Helene) wait until utility crews have removed downed lines, which may still be live in some cases. Wild animals, including poisonous snakes, may have been displaced by the storm. Appropriate shoes should be worn for protection against dangerous objects, including shattered glass, protruding nails and screws.
AccuWeather meteorologists will be monitoring a forecast area of showers and thunderstorms that has the potential to evolve into a tropical depression or storm as early as Thursday this week in the western Caribbean.
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