- September 10, 2024
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Summerfield Bluffs 13-year-old Leah Abrams looks over her destroyed yearbooks as her family works to clean up their home after it was flooded. "All of my yearbooks are ruined," she says.
Photo by Liz RamosSummerfield Bluffs' Angela Abrams and her 13-year-old daughter Leah Abrams sift through their belongings to see if anything is salvageable after the Braden River flooded their home. Abrams estimated the damage to be $250,000.
Photo by Liz RamosThe drywall had to be removed in Nicole Eveloff's River Club home after Hurricane Debby flooded the home. Eveloff says it could be four to five months before the home is restored and her family can return.
Photo by Liz RamosResidents in Summerfield Bluffs are rescued after the Braden River flooded their street.
Courtesy imageSummerfield Bluffs' Jody Abrams uses a canoe he had in his garage to safely get supplies for his family out of their flooded home and to dry land.
Courtesy imageRiver Club's Nicole Eveloff explains that the Braden River behind her home was inundated and overflowed the two small ponds causing major flooding. "I've never seen it like that before," she says.
Photo by Liz RamosSummerfield Bluffs' Angela Abrams says she's been trying to save old family photos while determining what is salvageable in her home after Hurricane Debby engulfed her neighborhood in water.
Photo by Liz RamosA mountain of ruined furniture and belongings sits at the beginning of River Club's Nicole Eveloff's driveway. Another pile is next to the garage.
Photo by Liz RamosSummerfield Bluffs 13-year-old Leah Abrams looks over her destroyed yearbooks as her family works to clean up their home after it was flooded. "All of my yearbooks are ruined," she says.
Photo by Liz RamosRiver Club's Mary Ilcym says the water on Royal Lytham Avenue is keeping her from leaving her home Tuesday.
Photo by Liz RamosLinger Lodge Restaurant's workers spent Tuesday morning clearing away 3 inches of water that flowed into the restaurant.
Photo by Liz RamosThe water recedes into the Braden River after pushing its way through the Linger Lodge Restaurant.
Photo by Liz RamosPeggy Shonga, an administrator for Linger Lodge, says the sign shown here in the Braden River wasn't visible Monday as Hurricane Debby swelled.
Photo by Liz RamosJuan Vaquero pressure washes the patio of the Linger Lodge restaurant after it is flooded by Hurricane Debby. The restaurant expects to reopen Wednesday.
Photo by Liz RamosA puddle remains in front of the Linger Lodge restaurant after the water from the Braden River recedes.
Photo by Liz RamosWater overtakes Oakmont Way off Clubhouse Drive in River Club. Even the biggest trucks struggled to get through the water.
Photo by Liz RamosThis grandfather clock has been in the Abrams family for generations. Angela Abrams says although the clock was damaged by flood waters, she will keep it.
Photo by Liz RamosNicole Eveloff's River Club home is emptied out to make way for fans to dry out the floors after Hurricane Debby flooded the home.
Photo by Liz RamosRiver Club's Nicole Eveloff and her family must purchase all new furniture as everything had to be thrown out due to the home being flooded as a result of Hurricane Debby.
Photo by Liz RamosSummerfield Bluffs' Jody Abrams uses a canoe to bring his daughters 2-year-old Nora Abrams and 13-year-old Leah Abrams to safety.
Courtesy imageSummerfield Bluffs' Asa Abrams wades through the water on his street.
Courtesy imageWater engulfs Riversedge Street Circle in River Club.
Photo by Liz RamosA line of dirt shows how high the water was on the front porch of Angela Abrams' home in Summerfield Bluffs.
Photo by Liz RamosSummerfield Bluffs' Angela Abrams and her family try to salvage family photos that were soaked as the house was flooded.
Photo by Liz RamosSummerfield Bluffs 13-year-old Leah Abrams is able to see her photo in her destroyed kindergarten yearbook.
Photo by Liz RamosBikers, joggers and skaters usually are warned not to be on the River Club Golf Course, but Tuesday they would have needed a boat after Hurricane Debby.
Photo by Liz RamosHurricane Debby makes it difficult to play golf at The River Club as waters take over Hole 18.
Photo by Liz RamosThe flood waters perfectly reflect the trees on Pine Valley Street in River Club.
Photo by Liz RamosThe intersection of River Club Boulevard and Royal Lytham Avenue remains flooded at 10 a.m. Tuesday. By 1 p.m. the water cleared enough for people to safely drive past.
Photo by Liz Ramos
The floods on Royal Lytham Avenue keep residents from leaving their neighborhood on Tuesday morning,
Photo by Liz RamosSenator Rick Scott speaks at the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center on Aug. 6. Behind him from left to right are Commissioner Mike Rahn, Director of Public Safety Jodie Fiske and Sheriff Rick Wells.
Photo by Lesley DwyerAt a Tuesday morning press conference to talk about the storm's effects, Manatee County officials called Hurricane Debby a 100-year storm.
“This was historic,” Commission Chair Mike Rahn said at the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center. “We had massive amounts of rain dumped on us at one time. Some places got up to 18 inches of rain here in Manatee County.”
Emergency crews performed 55 water rescues and moved 210 individuals and two horses to safer ground. The county’s call center handled over 2,200 calls in 72 hours.
Senator Rick Scott joined Rahn, along with Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, Sheriff Rick Wells, Director of Public Safety Jodie Fiske and Commissioners Ray Turner and Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Scott said he met with Deanne Criswell, administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, last week to ensure federal resources would be available.
“A lot of people are seeing flooding that we have never experienced before,” Wells said. “We’re still dealing with some road closures on Golf Course Road. Upper Manatee/Rye Road is now open. County Road 675 is still closed in the Jim Davis area, so we’re still trying to get people home safely.”
Officials stressed the importance of ongoing caution. Wells said the Sheriff’s Office will assist residents who have their medications trapped in flooded areas.
“If you see a road is flooded, turn around and don’t drown,” Rahn said.
In Lakewood Ranch Tuesday morning, River Club's Mary Ilcym stood outside her home on Royal Lytham Avenue, staring toward the street.
Since Hurricane Debby slowly passed Manatee County and pounded the area with rain, she's been waiting for the water on her street to clear so she can leave her home.
She doesn't have a vehicle large enough to plow through the standing water.
"I have never experienced something like this," Ilcym said. "We were surprised with all this rain. It's not easy, but we're dealing with it. We're just watching TV most of the time. The water is just not going back. It's staying right in front, and there's nothing else we can do but just wait it out."
River Club's Tom Sweeney wanted to go to Johnson Preserve for a morning walk Aug. 6, but the county closed the preserve due to floods.
Sweeney, who lives on Woodborne Place, wouldn't have been able to get to the preserve anyway, as water engulfed much of Clubhouse Drive around Oakmont Way.
Sweeney said the torrential rains from Debby "felt like it was biblical" as it pounded the area.
After thinking the worst was over the afternoon of Aug. 5, Sweeney said the evening storm came as a surprise as River Club was once again hammered with rain. This time, it caused power outages.
As Sweeney checked on a friend's home and took photos of the floods at the intersection of Royal Latham Avenue and River Club Boulevard Aug. 6, he said he still didn't have power.
He said the power outage was a result of transformers being under water.
"No one really realizes what 18 inches of rain is going to look like," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen it like that."
Sweeney said he always assumed loss of power during a hurricane would be caused by downed power lines or strong winds. He never considered it could be a result of flooding. Now, he will consider getting a generator to ensure he doesn't lose power in the next storm.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, workers found that the Braden River had flowed its way through the Linger Lodge Restaurant. They said the entire restaurant had 3 inches of water sitting inside.
The water flowed right through the restaurant into the parking lot in front of the establishment.
Dried up eels could be seen in the parking lot as the waters receded.
Peggy Shongo, the restaurant administrator, said staff members used squeegees to push the water out of the kitchen and dining areas, past the patios and back into the river.
Fans were blowing air on the floor to help dry it faster.
Staff member Juan Vaquero was hard at work pressure washing the patio.
The river's level still was near the restaurant, covering most of the stairs leading up to the patio.
Shongo said the restaurant will reopen Wednesday.
