Hillsborough residents near the Alafia River rescued from floodwaters after Hurricane Milton

Deputies rescuing people from flooding

Kylie Jones reports

LITHIA, Fla. - The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has been rescuing residents from floodwaters as the Alafia River rises quickly in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Neighbors off Lithia Pinecrest Road were pulled out of their homes that were surrounded by rising water on Friday. The sheriff’s office said the water is expected to reach historic levels after Hurricane Milton dumped 16 inches of rain on the area.

Rescue boats and highwater vehicles launched out of the intersection at Lithia Pinecrest Road and Rose Street on Friday.

READ: Hurricane Milton: Gas distribution underway after Port Tampa Bay impacted by power issues

"They’re used to flooding down here," Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said. "They’re not used to it flooding this deep or this fast."

Chronister said the water in this area rose much sooner and more quickly than expected.

"Most of them thought, ‘Hey, it’ll come in. We have a little bit of time, a day or two to get out,'" Chronister said.

However, the Alafia River continued to rise throughout the day Friday, causing floodwaters to begin to engulf the streets and homes off Lithia Pinecrest Road. First responders said the amount of rainfall from Milton was significant, and that there’s nowhere for this water to go.

"Twenty to twenty-five feet," Chronister said. "There are some homes that are completely underwater. You can barely see the apex of the home."

Floodwaters nearly swallowed up some cars, rose halfway up on a bus on one street and crept up close to the top of street signs. Deputies helped pull families and their pets from their homes as several feet of water trapped many of them inside.

"They’re destroyed," Chronister said. "They’ve lost everything they had. They’re hardworking, and now they’ve lost everything that they had."

The sheriff helped pull one older man from his home, where he was trapped on his porch in waist-deep water. That man’s family said he has some medical conditions, and he was reunited with his nephew who was coming to rescue him on another boat.

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"I’ve lived here 42 years," he said. "It’s the house I grew up in, and it’s never been this bad in the yard."

That man’s nephew was also helping rescue other people around the neighborhood who were caught off guard by the water rising so quickly.

"Last night at 8 o’clock, I was standing on dry ground in my driveway without a problem, and now it’s this," he said.

The floodwaters have uprooted communities and displaced so many families for an indefinite amount of time.

READ: Sen. Rick Scott talks flooding, recovery efforts in Milton's aftermath

"What do the next steps look like?" Chronister said. "They’ve lost everything. They have no cars. They have no clothes. They have no place to go home."

Many families were forced to leave with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

"But we still have our lives, so we can rebuild," a neighbor said. "So, we can just pray."

The water is expected to linger, because first responders said there’s nowhere for this amount of water to drain to right away. The sheriff’s office continued rescue missions throughout the day on Friday.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District said it released additional water from the Medard Reservoir into the Alafia River to protect the structural integrity of the reservoir.

In preparation for potential impacts from Hurricane Milton, the District released water and the Medard Reservoir was below normal operating level. However, officials with the district said the Medard Reservoir got almost seven inches of rain, and the reservoir rose 6.5 feet as a result.

The District said the amount of water released is less than 1% of the overall flow in the Alafia River.

The District said that not pumping the additional water from the reservoir and risking a failure would further endanger residents and property downstream.

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