Live Updates: Hurricane Milton
Stay up to date with all the latest on the storm.
As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, as Hurricane Milton continued to approach the peninsula, the National Weather Service in Melbourne forecasted significant flooding of the St. Johns River in several parts of Central Florida, including:
- Astor (Lake/Volusia counties): Flood Watch in effect until further notice. Major flooding is forecasted; minor flooding has already been observed.
- Lake Harney (Volusia/Seminole counties): Flood Watch in effect through Thursday morning. Moderate flooding is forecasted.
- DeLand: Flood Watch in effect through Thursday morning. Moderate flooding is forecasted.
- Sanford: Flood Watch in effect through Thursday morning. Minor flooding is forecasted.
Those flooding risks were elevated by Milton’s wind pattern, which is expected to push winds up river: from north to south, according to Tim Miller, Bureau Chief of Water Resource Information at the St. Johns River Water Management District.
“As we go north in our system, there really isn’t a whole lot of topographical relief there; the elevations don’t change a lot, so the flow of the river really isn’t that fast,” Miller said. “So items such as wind and tide can be influencing factors, even as we have a lot of water that still needs to move north."
The District makes plans ahead of events where potential flooding is anticipated, including by evaluating where water control structures might be useful for regulating water levels, according to Miller.
Most of those water control structures are towards the south of the District’s purview, in Brevard and Indian River counties, and as of Tuesday, they were “primarily closed,” to avoid adding more water flow downstream, Miller said.
There are fewer water control structures in the District’s central area, where Miller said the primary strategy has been to acquire land surrounding the St. Johns River, particularly floodplains to provide water storage as the river rises.
But the water management district is able to regulate some water levels in the Ocklawaha River Basin, including for Lake Apopka and the Harris Chain of Lakes, Miller said.
“We're letting water out on that side of things, in order to accommodate any rainfall that we're gonna get,” Miller said. “Those are actively planned areas, and those are actions that are currently taking place.”
Currently there is “quite a bit of room” to store water in Lake Apopka, Miller said, because the lake is below its regulation schedule; in other words, the ideal water elevation to maintain storage capacity for storm events.
“We're constantly looking at water levels and where we can control the water,” Miller said. “We are working towards the best interest of the public.”
All District offices will close Wednesday, Oct. 9, and remain closed until building safety assessments are complete. All District-managed lands, including campgrounds and navigational locks, will close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, and will stay closed until further notice, according to the District.
For more information on water levels and emergency contacts in your area, visit: https://www.sjrwmd.com/storm/
