- November 18, 2024
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UPDATED 12:30 P.M. SEPT. 27
Heavy rains that dropped as much as 15 inches of water on Palm Coast as of Saturday morning caused road closures and stranded about half a dozen drivers in their cars, according to Flagler County Emergency Management officials. And more is expected: the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Flagler County at about 11:20 Saturday that is in effect until 1:15 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, Flagler County Emergency Management has asked Palm Coast residents to avoid doing things that produces wastewater — like laundry and irrigation — to keep the wastewater from overflowing into the city, and urged anyone whose property has been damaged to call the Emergency Operations Center at 313-4200.
“This morning everything had receded in the Palm Coast area. However, because of the rain we’re getting right now, we’re staring to see inundations again,” Flagler County Emergency Management Chief Kevin Guthrie said at about noon Saturday. “There’s a band of showers that’s right along the Palm Coast Parkway corridor dropping a lot of rain — it could drop 2-3 inches — and we are starting to experience problems in the B-section, and around the L-section mains.”
Residents who need emergency sandbags to keep water out of their homes may pick up and bag their own sand bags at 1 Wellfield Grade in Palm Coast. Those bags are for emergency — not precautionary — use, Guthrie said.
Emergency management officials have asked residents not to drive into areas where the water covers the roadway, because it can be impossible to gauge its depth from a car. Cars can also create a wake that pushes floodwater into nearby buildings, or they can cut out and become stranded.
“We probably had a half dozen or more cars that started driving down the roadways, and they became stranded and we had to send crews out to rescue them,” Guthrie said.
Meanwhile, the Palm Coast Fire Department is assessing flooded areas, Palm Coast Utilities is dealing with infiltration into the sewer system and monitoring the lift, and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is helping with traffic control.
In western Flagler County, road and bridge crews were working on clearing washouts Saturday morning, Guthrie said. Flagler County Emergency Management is working on compiling an updated list of washouts in the Daytona North area, but as of late Friday night, there were washouts on Hickory Street, Walnut Avenue and Fir Street.
