TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Coastal Storms Flood West Pasco County Streets

ADVERTISEMENT

By NEIL JOHNSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 14, 2008

TAMPA - Thunderstorms drifted onshore from the Gulf of Mexico late Saturday and early Sunday morning, flooding streets in west Pasco County and forcing organizers to cancel an early morning triathlon in Pinellas County.

Flooding forced two families from their homes in New Port Richey, and the American Red Cross opened a shelter Saturday night for the six people displaced. Rain dumped as much as 4 inches of water into houses on Aurora Drive.

Curtice Rogers spent Saturday night in a local church and said the Red Cross was putting him up in a motel Sunday night. Five inches of water spilled into his duplex Saturday night; Sunday, with the rain still up to his doorstep, his mother and nephew came by to help him move out a few things before he left.

Rogers, 47, said he had just signed his second yearlong lease there. But he's not sure he wants to stay.

"And this wasn't even a hurricane," he said.

The storms edged from the Gulf over the coast of Pasco County about 11:30 p.m. Saturday and continued for hours.

The flooding stranded cars and left water standing 9 inches or higher in streets of Bayonet Point, New Port Richey and Hudson.

The National Weather Service reported 2.3 inches of rain was measured in New Port Richey in 30 minutes and 3.3 inches was measured in Hudson in an hour. A spotter measured 4 inches of rain in Clearwater in 90 minutes.

The worst of the Pasco County flooding was centered near State Road 54 and Seven Springs Boulevard. Vehicles were stranded near U.S. 19, south of New Port Richey, according to the weather service.

The rain headed south toward Pinellas and forced the cancellation of the Morton Plant Mease Triathlon on Sunday morning.

Rain covered all of Pinellas, western Pasco, and north and western Hillsborough, the weather service reported.

Sunday night, Citrus County experienced localized flooding with 3 to 4 inches of rain that began around 6:30 p.m. from Beverly Hills to Homosassa Springs, said Eric Oglesby, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Photographer Andy Jones and reporter Jose Patino Girona contributed to this report. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at njohnson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7731.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT