Sarasota, St. Armands drying out after Debby's deluge

Downtown Sarasota and St. Armands Circle seemed to fare well as Tropical Storm Debby dropped more than 12 inches of rain in some areas of the county over the weekend.

Several major roads were closed by flooding overnight and into early Monday morning. 

Floodwaters submerged a large portion of the Bobby Jones Golf Course. By 9 a.m. Monday, water covering entire fairways spilled over a concrete wall and sidewalk, covering two of the three lanes of westbound Fruitville Road, forcing traffic into a single lane.

Firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement were inundated with rescue calls, some that required boats to reach stranded people. 

Dana Judge, spokeswoman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, said from midnight Sunday to noon Monday, the county's Emergency Operations Center had logged 402 incidents involving water rescues, vehicles in water, or evacuations from flooded houses throughout Sarasota County, including Longboat Key, Venice and Englewood.

Sarasota County Fire Department Chief David Rathbun said in a video message Monday morning that dangerous conditions still exist and cautioned residents against venturing out unnecessarily. 

“We encourage everyone to shelter in place,” he said, adding the county has had twice the rain that was expected from the storm. 

By 10 a.m. Monday, Sarasota’s Main Street had little standing water, with small tree limbs littering the sidewalks. Normally bustling on a Monday morning, the street was nearly deserted and most businesses were still closed. 

During a break in the rain at about 11 a.m. a handful of vehicles were navigating their way through standing water around St. Armands Circle and Lido Key, but most businesses remained closed. Many had makeshift barriers of sandbags and packing tape pressed against storefronts to keep floodwaters out. 

The lights of Kilwin’s Chocolates stood out amid the darkened shops. They were open for business and manager Dino Coit was preparing two batches of fudge on the marble tables by the front window. 

“I’m not sure why we’re even here,” he said with a grin as he allowed the fudge to rest before slicing it into individual pieces. 

He said the shop was open Sunday, but business was slow as the storm lashed the island with wind and rain. The shop closed at 5 p.m. but reopened Monday morning. 

“We’re open every day,” he said.

Because of the additional rainfall the area received Sunday night, Sarasota County Government offices are closed Monday. 

Regular Monday trash collection was suspended in the city and county. The schedule has been pushed back one day for all customers:

• Monday, Aug. 5: no collection.
• Tuesday, Aug. 6: collection for Monday customers.
• Wednesday, Aug. 7: collection for Tuesday customers.
• Thursday, Aug. 8: collection for Wednesday customers.
• Friday, Aug. 9: collection for Thursday customers.
• Saturday, Aug. 10: collection for Friday customers.

The Central County Landfill will reopen with regular business hours on Tuesday, Aug. 6. 

All Breeze services (Breeze bus and trolley routes, Breeze OnDemand, and non-medical Breeze Plus trips) will remain closed Aug. 5. Breeze Plus is making every effort to honor medically-necessary (dialysis) trips. Visit SCgov.net/breeze for service updates.