CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Residents in one of the most infamous spots for flooding in Northeast Florida are bracing themselves yet again for floodwaters spill into homes and city streets.
At a news conference Sunday night, Clay County Emergency Management warned residents near the area along Aquarius Concourse to expect minor flooding to hit the area around 8 a.m. Monday morning.
Minor flooding, however, could cause a big problem for residents who are still issuing repairs to their homes which were damaged in previous floods or weather events.
"Since Hurricane Irma came through, we’ve had a lot of folks that are now still repairing and rebuilding from Hurricane Irma that are in temporary structures, travel trailers, those type things, so it wouldn’t take as much to flood that property out as what it would before with their elevated homes,” Clay County Emergency Management Director John Ward said Sunday.
The emergency management department said they expect Black Creek to be outflow and back to normal by Monday evening or into Tuesday morning. Until then, officials want residents to remove RVs, trailers, and other structures away from water.
They’re also reminding drivers to turn around, don’t drown.
The trademarked safety slogan by the National Weather Service is used to has used its trademarked flood safety slogan to warn of the perils of driving through standing water while in a flood or flash flood.
It says, never drive around the barriers blocking a flooded road. The road may have collapsed under the water. A mere 6 inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. It takes just 12 inches of rushing water to carry away most cars and just 2 feet of rushing water can carry away SUVs and trucks.