Several roads in Lake County remained closed Tuesday, following a Sunday night downpour that left parts of the county drenched in more than 19 inches of rain.
It’s still unclear when roads will reopen, according to representatives for the county and the city of Mount Dora.
Near Downtown Mount Dora, Donnelly Street collapsed Sunday night due to a surge of stormwater that breached two retention ponds, according to a city spokeswoman. Donnelly Street is closed until further notice from Limit Avenue north to Fiddler Drive.
“It was kind of like a hurricane, but without wind,” said Kathy Higgins, who stopped by North Donnelly Street Tuesday to catch a glimpse of the damage. “(The rain) just kept coming, and it didn’t relent.”
Higgins said she lives on higher ground in the city, and fortunately didn’t experience any flooding inside her home as a result of Sunday’s rainstorm. But Higgins said she’s worried about how flooding damage in the city could affect the local economy, especially as the holidays approach.
“We've got such great restaurants and retail,” Higgins said. “I'm concerned for the retail merchants downtown that rely on this time of the year for a livelihood.”
Another road closure in the area has persisted since Hurricane Milton last year, when a sinkhole opened up on Britt Road. Higgins, who moved to the area from out of state two years ago, said she hopes it won’t take so long to repair North Donnelly Street.
“I'm hoping to maybe see that the state will get more involved with it, to fix it as quickly as possible,” Higgins said.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management has deployed pumps to suck up 30 million gallons of water from flooded areas in Lake County, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday in a social media post.
Sinkholes and ground subsidence were reported in the Eustis area following Sunday’s rains, according to Lake County representatives.
Just a half mile up Donnelly Street is the Waterman Village retirement community, where washouts also occurred as a result of Sunday’s rain. Waterman Village representatives are “pleased to report that all residents and staff are safe” following “an unprecedented amount of rainfall,” according to the community’s website.
Meanwhile, Mount Dora resident Steve Brothers said he feels lucky to have only been left with a couple of inches of water in his home after Sunday’s rain. Still, there’s some repair work to be done.
“It’s a laminated floor, so it's got to be replaced,” said Brothers. “I hope I won the lottery, so I can get paid for the damage.”
Brothers said he doesn’t have flood insurance, partly because he technically doesn’t live in a flood zone, but also because he doesn’t trust coverage would be worth the expense.
RELATED: Decades-old maps don’t fully capture Central Florida’s flooding risk
Human-driven climate change is causing more precipitation to fall during heavy rain events, including 37% more rain in the Southeastern United States, according to the fifth National Climate Assessment.
City and county officials say they’re still evaluating total damage recovery costs. In Mount Dora, a precautionary boil water notice remains in place while officials await water sampling results.
Below are damage reports on area roads from the city and county as of 4 p.m. Tuesday:
From the city of Mount Dora:
- Old Eustis Road – Reopened
- State Road 46 – One lane open in both directions due to flooding. The overpass remains closed.
- Donnelly Street – Closed from Limit Avenue north to Fiddler Drive. Limit Avenue remains open. The timeframe for reopening is currently unknown.
- Wolf Branch Road – Closed from Division Street to Britt Road. The timeframe for reopening is currently unknown.
- Avoid the area of Tremain Street (Train Trestle) until structural safety has been confirmed.
From Lake County:
Britt Road and Wolfbranch at Timberlake are closed and will remain so until the county can finish evaluating the road and form plans to rebuild.
