'It's significantly different': Hurricane Idalia brings flooding St. Pete neighborhood has never seen
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Shore Acres in St. Pete shore is a neighborhood known for flooding, but neighbors say it's never been quite like what Hurricane Idalia brought. With several feet of water covering the roads, water reached front doors and garages and in some homes several inches of water.
The Shore Acres Rec Center was rescue central Wednesday for the few hundred residents who call it home. For hours, people with boats, kayaks, paddle boards and canoes along with St. Pete Fire Rescue all worked together to help get people to dry ground.
From the roof of a Humvee FOX 13 watched as rescuers with St. Pete Fire Rescue and Good Samaritans helped get stranded residents to dry ground.
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"It’s a neighborhood that has always had problems, but there are always eight houses that are consistently underwater. This is 80 or 800 houses this time, and it’s significantly different. Exponentially different," resident Julie Johnson said.
Johnson has lived in the area for 25 years. Never has she seen anything like the several feet of water covering roads throughout Shore Acres. The water line reached front doors, and in some cases, residents couldn't get water from getting inside their homes.
Theo Hammock's brother-in-law Austin Auer's home had several inches of water throughout. Like many residents, they spent Wednesday starting the clean-up process.
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"It was not a good feeling. Walking around I had to start pushing it out. Not fun. Especially when you just moved in," Auer said.
To try and avoid any mold they immediately ripped out the base boards and began squeegeeing and sucking up the water. Fortunately, it was just a few inches.
Meanwhile, outside the pool was contaminated with floodwaters.
Auer already filed a claim with his insurance company and is now hoping for the best.
"I'm kind of just doing my best to keep it in the best shape as I can and then hopefully they will get in touch with me soon and take over from there," Auer said.