OSTEEN, Fla. — Floodwaters continue to rise in parts of Central Florida, especially along the St. Johns River.
Residents in the Lemon Bluff community in Osteen have not been asked to evacuate, but are monitoring how much higher the river will get.
What You Need To Know
- While residents along the St. Johns in Osteen have not been asked to evacuate, many are anxiously watching the river's levels
- Resident Kenneth Brown's sandbags remain out and in place, as his seawall that is 12 feet high has about a foot left to go before being breached
- The situation is reminding some of Hurricane Ian, in which homes dealt with significant flooding from the river
Kenneth Brown, who was cleaning up tree debris caused by Milton Wednesday, admits he’s not comfortable with the situation after going through flooding from Hurricane Ian.
He says he nearly a foot of water got inside his home because of the 2022 storm.
“A lot of it is anxiety, you know what I mean,” Kenneth said. “Also, emotions, there’s a little bit of both in all of that. I’m scared, you know, to go through what we did with Ian.”
Sandbags remain out and in place, as his seawall that is 12 feet high has about a foot left to go before being breached.
Plastic tarps will also soon be coming out of a storage closet to help protect the home even more.
“When I start seeing the water level like it is right now, it brings fear to me that Ian is on its way back again,” Kenneth said.
A few doors down, neighbor Shirley Brown has her own way of keeping track of the rising St. John’s.
“Well, yesterday I counted 14 pavers and now I am up to 13.5,” Shirley says from her patio. “I am watching it at noon and at night.”
So far, the river is currently occupying her late husband’s man cave, a storage shed with fishing gear, lawn furniture and currently water from the river.
The Browns, who are only related by the river they live on, continue to wait and see how much higher the St. Johns will get, and if they too will need to get to higher ground.