SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – A pile of wet newspapers in St. Armond’s Circle is part of what’s left to see from Tuesday night’s record rainfall in Sarasota County.
There wasn’t much debris in that area Wednesday morning, just a few overturned trash cans and cars being towed.
Driving around on Wednesday, you wouldn’t know how bad the flooding was, but those who endured it won’t forget.
“If this is just a small storm with no name, I’m definitely worried to see what hurricane season has in store for us,” Sarasota neighbor Gabe Lauer said.
The area around St. Armands Circle received 8 inches of rain in three hours Tuesday night.
“Probably over the course of five hours is when he started lifting about five or six feet. And that’s when I started seeing cars stuck,” Lauer said.
Fortunately, nearby businesses prepared by setting up sandbags. But, as Lauer said, people trying to drive on the area’s streets weren’t so lucky.
“You couldn’t really park in a parking lot and then there were medians, so it was almost like everyone was just trying to get through to try to get out of the water,” said Sarasota neighbor Wendy Koelling. “But then, when we were all like little boats.”
Several cars were being towed Wednesday morning.
Almost four inches of rain fell between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday. That’s the most of nearly an inch since 2006.
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