Florida Governor Rick Scott got a look at some of Clay County’s flooding due to Hurricane Irma Wednesday morning. He toured the overflowing Black Creek in Middleburg by boat.
Clay County emergency managers said the waters of Black Creek, which nearly submerged some homes, crested at 28-and-a-half-feet, breaking the previous record of just over 24-feet set in 1923.
Scott told our partner News4Jax Wednesday, it’s going to be a lot of work to rebuild residents’ lives.
“You just feel sorry for people. No one plans for a disaster,’ Scott said. “No one anticipated the water would come up like this. It came up fast.”
He said that fortunately everyone was rescued.
“But your heart goes out to them,” he said. “Water came into their house, most people don’t have any extra money for a disaster.”
Clay County Emergency Management's latest data shows more than 300 Clay County residents, as well as more than 70 pets, were rescued when storm surge threatened their homes after Hurricane Irma.
Approximately 1200 homes are located in the flooded area. Emergency officials are still assessing damages to see exactly how many were impacted by Irma.
Many homes were significantly flooded, as the north and south prongs of the creek crested Tuesday.
Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at@lindskilbride.
