bserver O PALM COAST
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
SPORTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014
NEIGHBORHOOD
NEWS
FPC tops Matanzas in bowling; plus: golf and swimming.
Rocky the turtle gets top-notch medical attention in Marineland. PAGE 19
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
PAGE 13
PAGE 3
Joanna Melamed and Evan Pierre wade through the water on Woodfield Drive on Sept. 26. Courtesy photo by Marina Bobrovnik
FLOOD
BYTHENUMBERS
34
structures (mostly homes) flooded
6
a hard rain By Brian McMillan | Executive Editor
WATER WORLD
TOTALED
Three residents recount their experiences from the weekend, when a foot of rain overwhelmed Palm Coast streets and damaged dozens of homes.
2
S
ome of the images from the heavy rains in Palm Coast this weekend were playful. There were children splashing in the streets, like the photo above, of Joanna Melamed and her son, Evan Pierre. Other residents pulled out their kayaks and canoes to make an unusual memory of paddling above the pavement. At least one person was photographed actually swimming down the middle of the street. But for others, the rising water was no laughing matter.
Water in the kitchen
For example, April Douglas, a young mother who was home alone with her 6-year-old son on Palmyra Lane. At about 4 p.m. Friday, she noticed liquid on the kitchen floor and wiped it up, thinking it had probably come from her son spilling some water. Then, later that night, she went to get herself a glass of water from the kitchen and stepped in a puddle. She flipped on the light and stared at the water that had stretched from her pantry to her refrigerator. The house had been breached.
Stalled
For example, Laura Rahn, who, on her
way home from work in St. Augustine, talked to her boyfriend on the phone. He warned her to be careful because the streets were flooded. She drove to her home on Westlee Lane, and, sure enough, the water was so deep it reached the top of her tires. As she continued on, she hit a dip in the road where the water was apparently even deeper, and the car stalled. People came out of their garages and snapped photos of her, stranded in the middle of the road.
Front and back yards
For example, Rusty Rollings, a woman who has been out of work for some time and calls this “one of the most depressed place areas I’ve ever lived in.” She has been contemplating selling her home and moving back to Georgia. Like her neighbors, she also watched the rain soak her lawn, fill up her ditch, and then, finally, spill out of the ditch. “I watched the water rushing down the street and into the easement in my yard, and the easement couldn’t handle it, so it went up to the house,” she said. The backyard was no better. Her lawn was covered, and then it spilled onto the porch and crept up to a half inch deep on her back door.
docks that floated away
25
cases of road damage
16
11 MILLION
GALLONS
Courtesy photo
Laurie Rahn was one of half a dozen residents whose cars were stranded in the water. Hers was a total loss.
“I was just praying that it would stop at some point in time,” she recalled. “That’s all I could do.”
‘There is a lot of water’
On Friday night, April Douglas soaked up water with towels, but the water wouldn’t stop. Where was it coming from? Certainly not the front door. Then she realized the water was coming from the corners of the kitchen itself. She wrung out the towels and soaked up more water. She put them in the dryer, ro-
SEE FLOOD / PAGE 4
5
inches of rain in the B section
Palm Coast wastewater operating totals Saturday, Sept. 27
MILLION GALLONS:
normal Palm Coast wastewater operating totals
ROADS CLOSED TEMPORARILY: • Bird of Paradise Drive and all streets in the vicinity • Old Kings Road • Forest Park Street: Mahogany to Clove • Hargrove Grade: Otis Stone to Hargrove at the railroad tracks • Otis Stone Hunter Road from U.S.1 to Main Street
INDEX Biz Buzz............. 33 Calendar............ 26
Class Notes........ 28 Cops Corner...........8
Crossword........... 24 Diversions.......... 35
Fortier................ 24 Golf Scores......... 18
Our Town...............2 Sports................ 13
Vol. 5, No. 35 One section