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Forecasters said the colossal amount of rain dropped on parts of
Florida east and north of Orlando was comparable to what the
region saw from a hurricane in 2022, underscoring the state's
vulnerability to extreme weather far beyond the tropical storms
that brew offshore.
“This is very significant rainfall. I mean, this is the type of
numbers that we haven’t really seen since Hurricane Ian,” said
Zach Law, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's
office in Melbourne, Florida.
Parts of Eustis in Lake County were inundated with 19.7 inches
of rain, while Port Saint John, west of the Kennedy Space Center
in Brevard County, saw 15.57 inches, according to a 24-hour
rainfall analysis by the NWS.
The slow-moving storm system triggered a flash flood emergency
in Eustis and Mount Dora on Sunday, with the NWS declaring the
event a “particularly dangerous situation,” a strongly worded
and rare warning from forecasters.
“That highlights the extent of how significant that event was,”
Law said.
Residents in Mount Dora woke up Monday to multiple road closures
and at least two roadways left washed out, and one impassable.
Local officials there issued a city-wide precautionary boil
water notice after a water line break — apparently linked to the
flooding — caused water pressure to drop temporarily at both of
the city's plants.
Aerial footage from Orlando television station WFTV showed the
floodwaters carved away a large section of land behind a row of
homes in a residential neighborhood in Mount Dora, where the
ground gave way just shy of the fence line of some houses.
Emergency responders and work crews were out early Monday
monitoring conditions and assessing the damage.
A flood watch was in effect into Monday night for parts of
Central Florida, including Orlando and Daytona Beach, where more
rainfall is expected. Forecasters warn that even two to three
inches of additional rain could significantly impact the region
and trigger more flash flooding, posing a potentially deadly
danger to drivers who try to navigate inundated roadways.
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