Days of heavy rain have the St. Johns River climbing along Seminole County's northern and eastern edges, and the National Weather Service says it will keep rising through at least the weekend.
What the river forecasts say
The weather service office in Melbourne has flood warnings in effect for two St. Johns River gauges in the county.
- Near Sanford: The river stood at 4.9 feet at 1:30 p.m. Monday, above its 4.2-foot bankfull mark. Forecasters expect it to pass the 5.5-foot flood stage Wednesday morning and reach about 6.8 feet by early Saturday afternoon, with more rise possible after that. The warning calls for minor flooding. At 7 feet, water starts spilling over the sea wall around Lake Monroe into nearby grassy areas and begins creeping onto Seminole Boulevard.
- Above Lake Harney: The gauge read 7.7 feet Monday afternoon, compared with a 6-foot bankfull level and an 8-foot flood stage. The river was expected to cross flood stage late Monday and climb to about 9.9 feet by Saturday morning, which the weather service classifies as moderate flooding. It said levels close to major flood stage are possible over the weekend. At 10 feet, flooding of low-lying homes grows more serious and many secondary roads can no longer be driven, the warning says.
Separately, a flood watch covering Seminole, Orange, Osceola and Lake counties ran until 7 p.m. Monday, with forecasters warning that another 1 to 2 inches of rain could cause flooding in poorly drained urban areas and spots already soaked.
Sandbags
Seminole County opened sandbag operations Monday, WFTV reported. The county has 3,000 pre-filled bags available first come, first served, plus empty bags and dirt for residents who prefer to bag it themselves.
Both sites are unstaffed, so residents should bring a shovel and gloves and plan to load the bags themselves. Each filled bag runs roughly 30 pounds.
