Flooding causes hidden road dangers in Brentwood

Heavy rains flood streets, knock out power

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Monday afternoon thunderstorms brought heavy rain that flooded streets and caused power outages for thousands across Jacksonville.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning until 7 p.m. for a large area of Northeast Florida, including Duval County and northern Clay County. 

A flood warning issued for St. Johns County was extended until 9 p.m., according to the county's Emergency Operations Center. 

The Weather Authority Chief Meteorologist John Gaughan said Monday's rainfall amounts varied from 1 to 4 inches. It was estimated that 3 inches of rain fell on Jacksonville's Southside. 

Flooding

There were reports of flooding across Jacksonville. In Mandarin, a street was underwater in the Hammock Oaks neighborhood.

In the city's Brentwood area, floodwaters impeded traffic and created reckless driving conditions at the intersection of Liberty and 21st streets.

IMAGES: Arlington apartments flooded

Heavy rainfall about 5:30 p.m. caused the intersection to become lost underwater. Vehicles that sit high enough drove through easily, but that created waves of water that pushed toward a gas station on the corner of the intersection.

The floodwaters were strong enough to lift the lids that covered buried gas tanks below ground. 

"I come to this service station every day. I pull out the same way. There was no hole there. Then I fell in the hole and bent one of my rims, messed up my rims," said Kenny Pete, who was driving a truck. "Every time it rains, it gets like that. But I've never seen the top of tanks float up."

IMAGES: Heavy rainfall causes flooding

He wasn't the only driver whose vehicle was damaged.

"I was about to get some gas and I ran over a big ol' hole -- a big ol' hole -- and scratched my rims up," Josh King said.

Another woman told News4Jax that she was driving through deeper water when she hit something she couldn't see that damaged the bottom of her vehicle.

In addition to damages caused both at and near the gas station and near the intersection, there were also multiple reports of cars that stalled as drivers tried to navigate flooded areas.

Most of the water receded by 6:30 p.m. at the Brentwood intersection.

In St. Johns County, the NWS said, there were reports of flooding along Interstate 95 and U.S. 1 after heavy rain.

Drivers are urged to "turn around, don't drown" if they come across flooded roads.

Outages

As of 8:10 p.m., JEA reported there were 49 power outages affecting 3,378 customers.

At the peak of the outages, there were 9,663 JEA customers without power.

To view outages or report an outage, click here.

Armada match postponed

The Jacksonville Armada's Monday night match against Puerto Rico was postponed due to the weather.

The rescheduled kickoff date was set for July 12 at 7 p.m.

For more information, click here.


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