Aftermath Of A Disaster! Flooding, Debris & Free Gas After Hurricane Milton

Cypress Creekā€™s Record Flood Stage Wreaks Havoc At The Enclave Community Off Wesley Chapel Blvd.

Carter Hoch, in his lifted side-by-side, drives by Paul Stevenson as they ferry residents in and out of the Enclave subdivision along Wesley Chapel Blvd. several days after Hurricane Milton roared through our area. Much of the Enclave was flooded by a record flood stage of the nearby Cypress Creek after Milton dumped a reported 16 inches (or more) of rain overnight from Oct. 9-10. The Florida National Guard and local law enforcement had to evacuate 100+ Enclave residents (Photo by Joel Provenzano)

After living in this area for more 30 years, I thought that living at least 25-30 miles from anywhere along the Gulf coast was enough to ensure that our area would never have to deal with the full brunt of a major hurricane.

Wrong again, G.

Even though Hurricane Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, five miles or so south of downtown Sarasota and more than 60 miles south and 30 miles west of here, the Category 3 storm brought winds estimated at about 100 miles per hour for several hours as it rumbled across Florida. Those of you who hunkered down in your homes here will probably never forget the roaring freight train sound that pounded our area from Wednesday night well into Thursday morning, Oct. 9-10.

But, when the smoke cleared, our area clearly had suffered its most direct hit, at least in the three decades that I have lived here, and itā€™s likely that no one will ever ignore the warnings to evacuate when itā€™s clear to every meteorologist on every TV station that another storm has us in its sights.

Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton caused the perfect storm (no pun intended) for flooding, creating record amounts of rainfall almost never seen before in the Wesley Chapel area.

Many parts of Wesley Chapel received around 10ā€ of rain with Debby, 4ā€ with Helene, and 13ā€-16ā€ (or more) with Milton, on top of an already wetter-than-normal summer. One storm in September set an all-time record dumping of 4.7ā€ of rain in only two hours, causing flash floods in older areas of Tampa. Weather stations were reporting that before Milton hit, much of the Tampa Bay area had already seen 50% more rainfall year-to- date than average.

With Milton making landfall south of Tampa Bay, that helped reduce potential storm surge impacts but put us in perhaps the worst part of the storm for rainfall. The day Milton hit was recorded as the second wettest day EVER recorded for Tampa (in total rainfall), and officially made 2024 as the wettest year (with 77 inches) since records started in 1890, even though the year still has more than two months left!

All of this rain had to go somewhere. It doesnā€™t just magically disappear overnight. New lakes have been created all over Florida where none had existed before, and these flood waters eventually found their way into rivers, creating historically high river levels that continued to rise even after the storm was gone. In short ā€” itā€™s still kind of a mess out there.

Pulling into the entrance of the Enclave community along Hyde Park Dr. (off Wesley Chapel Blvd.), nearly a week after Milton made landfall, the smell of dead fish and sewage was still lingering in the air. The water was still high in the street, a little over 2 feet, making it look more like a river. Technically it was, as Cypress Creek topped its bank, flooding into the nearby community.

The storm was gone but the water kept rising, the river gauge maxing out a full 4ā€™ above the major flood stage (at a record 15 feet), days after the rain had stopped falling.

The Pasco Sheriff ā€™s Office, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission and the National and Florida State Guard were gone, a few days after performing more than 100 water rescues, and now the locals were stepping in to help each other. After all, even Gov. Ron DeSantis mentioned the Enclaveā€™s historic flooding during one of his post-Milton updates. The community was now famous…or infamous, at least.

Getting out of the vehicle to take pictures we immediately heard, ā€œYou wanna go back there?,ā€ asked Paul Stevenson with Roofing & Sheet Metal Services. ā€œIā€™ll take you.ā€

It was almost 7 p.m., and Paul (an Enclave resident himself ) had been giving rides to other residents in his big Dodge Ram 2500 since 2 p.m., ferrying them slowly down the flooded streets trying hard not to make a big wake. As big of a truck as it was, and all decked out for work, it was just barely tall enough, with the water level coming right up to the bottom of the doors.

ā€œA lot of people left, but then, surprisingly, we got power back a few days ago,ā€ Paul said while driving and pointing out the worst. Paul has lived in Enclave for four years and said he has never even seen flooding on the streets before at all. Many were lucky, because as deep as the water got, the houses were all built a few feet above the level of the road, so the water came right up to a few door steps, but never made it inside.

Residents were being cautious though, as many had parked their cars sideways, right up against their garage doors to avoid the flood waters, which was a smart move. A few residents parked vehicles up at the entrance to the community in a makeshift parking lot, where Paul and another helpful citizen, Carter Hoch (see top photo), were picking people up and dropping them off.

Carter lives in Lutz and brought over his custom high-water vehicle, a lifted side-by-side with massive, chest high tires. ā€œI did 10 hours yesterday, got back to help one more day. Been here for an hour,ā€ Carter said after lifting a suitcase out the back for a resident he had just picked up from the back of the community.

Paul chimed in that, ā€œIt looks like regular pickup trucks might be able to make it in tomorrow,ā€ and both agreed that their extremely helpful services might not be needed much longer.

As far as the Wesley Chapel area was concerned, Enclave (which actually has a Land Oā€™Lakes address), got the worst of the post-Milton Cypress Creek flooding, although many local streets were severely flooded in the immediate aftermath of the storm, which saw gusts of 100 mph and higher, and received hurricane-force winds throughout the evening hours of Oct. 9 through the early morning hours of Oct. 10.

The flooding in front of the Publix-anchored Shoppes at New Tampa (right photo by Jeremy Frakes on the Wesley Chapel Residents Facebook page) subsided within a day or so after the storm passed, leaving downed signs and non-working traffic signals in its wake. Trees and power lines were also down everywhere, like at the home of Jason and Sarah Contino (below left), where a large tree that fell missed their home by only a few feet. Down fences were a common scenario.

But, some people with the newer PVC -style fences were able to replace and put back the panels that had blown out within hours of the sun coming up the next morning.

Equally frightening scenes were recorded by local residents across our area, although the above left photo the previous page was posted by WFLA-TV (News Channel 8) of a portion of Curley Rd. that completely buckled.

Most (but certainly not all) homes in the Wesley Chapel area (and more than 3.5 million statewide) lost power for at least a day or more, which caused the need for many people to throw out the perishable food in their refrigerators. Of course, restaurants were probably the hardest hit by this, but many seemed to barely skip a beat in terms of reopening within a couple of days.

As gasoline became scarce in the first few days after Milton passed, the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) opened up five free gasoline distribution stations across the Tampa Bay area, including one in the Dillardā€™s parking lot at the Shops at Wiregrass (bottom photo) from Oct. 14-17, where motorists could receive up to 10 gallons in free gas. The lines were long ā€” up to three hours at the busiest times ā€” and some online commenters didnā€™t understand why people still needed gas

a week after the storm, when the gas stations did finally all get to refill, apparently not realizing that many homes were still running gas generators in order to be able to have power in their homes.

And finally, a lot of people have been wondering why they were turned down for the $750 in assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), so I asked FEMA media specialist Sara Zuckerman that question.

ā€œIf a disaster survivor gets a letter that they are ineligible for disaster assistance, it may not be a final decision,ā€ Zuckerman said, ā€œSometimes, FEMA just needs more information or supporting documentation from the survivor. Make sure you read the letter carefully to see what items may be pending from your first attempt to apply.ā€

Zuckerman also said that homeowners and renters in a declared county (like Pasco) can apply for FEMA assistance online by visiting DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-(800) 621-3362. Mobile access also is available through the FEMAApp.The latest Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) schedule and locations can be found at FEMA.gov or by texting 43362-DRC{yourzipcode} to find your closest DRC. There also are Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) crews working in Florida neighborhoods helping people apply.

Hurricane Milton Aftermath ā€” Of Tornado Near Misses & What Youā€™re Dealing With Here

As I reflect on the horror that was ā€” and still is for many people ā€” Hurricane Milton, I am both happy and a little guilty to report that our power is back on (at the Silversaw Apartments on the north side of S.R. 56, west of I-75), our complex seemingly suffered little to no structural damage, the traffic signals are working and many of the stores and restaurants have been able to reopen in our area.
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But, believe me, I know this is not the case for a large number of our readers and the State of Florida in general. And, I once again feel powerless to help, other than maybe to donate money to disaster relief, which wonā€™t necessarily benefit the local residents in need.


Jannah and I went to stay with her daughter in Port Saint Lucie ā€” yes, the same Port Saint Lucie (and St. Lucie County) that took the brunt of the 126 tornado warnings and nearly 40 verified tornado touchdowns as Miltonā€™s outer bands were first reaching the ā€œSunshine Stateā€ early on Thursday afternoon. One of those tornadoes, which touched down less than five miles from where we were hunkered down, tore the roof off the cityā€™s Police Department and another that hit Ft. Pierce (only 12 miles from us) is responsible for the deaths of at least five people in one subdivision ā€” the Spanish Lakes Country Club.Ā 
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Scary stuff, to be sure, but those near misses were the worst we dealt with from the storm and we got an email that the power had somehow already been restored at Silversaw on Thursday night. We definitely saw less rain and wind in Port Saint Lucie than pretty much anywhere other than Miami and other areas in the southeastern corner of the state.
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My mom, who lives in downtown Sarasota, made the decision to stay in her high-rise apartment building, which did lose power but had a backup generator that kicked in and her hurricane windows held up just fine. Even so, she was alone with her cat in her apartment and said that the winds ā€” which exceeded 100 mph upon Miltonā€™s landfall in nearby Siesta Key (which already had been devastated by storm surge from Hurricane Helene) ā€” never seemed to let up from what she could only describe as a high-speed train sound right outside those windows for more than six hours. Iā€™ve seen comments on local Facebook community pages that tell a similar story about the conditions here for those who didnā€™t evacuate.
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On our drive back yesterday, which included passing through the ā€œwar zoneā€ that is now Ft. Pierce, we saw dozens of downed power lines, non-working traffic signals and tons of damage. We felt even more fortunate ā€” but maybe also even more guilty ā€” to have a place to return to that has electricity and running water with our lives pretty much able to resume back to ā€œnormal.ā€


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But, I know that simply isnā€™t true for everyone who receives our publications. Photographer Charmaine George and freelance writers Celeste McLaughlin and Iris Vitelli still have no power and TECO (Tampa Electric Co.) has told its many thousands of customers that they ā€œhopeā€ all power will be restored by next Thursday. That would be almost an entire week with no electricity, which is horrible to think about until you consider those who lost their homes completely and whose lives are changed forever.Ā Ā 
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We have seen the buckling of a portion of Curley Rd., the flooding of the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza (BBD Blvd. at S.R. 56), trees that fell on peopleā€™s houses and many more truly frightening things that have happened since Thursday night.Ā 
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And, the effects of Milton clearly havenā€™t left us yet entirely, either. Just today, the National Guard and other military and law enforcement personnel had to help evacuate the Enclave development on Wesley Chapel Blvd.(not to be confused with The Enclave subdivision of Meadow Pointe or The Enclave Apartments on S.R. 56) because of the flooding of the nearby Cypress Creek. Flooding continues to be an issue for a lot of our other readers, too, and many have structural damage to their homes and what could be long waits for insurance claims to be processed and paid, while also having to find temporary shelter.


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In other words, just because you and I donā€™t have the same full-fledged disaster on our hands doesnā€™t mean your neighbors are all OK. I have seen some of the nastiest comments back and forth on local Facebook communities and have seen and heard of people being nasty to workers at Costco, local restaurants and especially, at local gas stations, many of which werenā€™t able to replenish their supplies until this morning. Itā€™s obvious that many people do still have to fill gas cans because they do still need to run their generators because they still donā€™t have power. Please try to avoid getting gas right now if you already have more than half a tank, in order to let those who desperately need it now get it. We all hate waiting on lines for things, but we donā€™t need to hate or fight or threaten each other because we have to do so.
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I am praying for a speedy recovery for everyone from this but sadly, I know that many have a lot of ā€œbad roadā€ ahead of them. Please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com (mailto:ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com)Ā if you have ideas about what those of us who are already recovering from Milton can do to help those who arenā€™t. Also feel free to send me a note about what you or someone you know are going through and please let me know if you want me to share that information with our readers, even if you want it to remain anonymous.