Rescue operations in Pasco County as floodwaters rose after Hurricane Milton

Water rescues underway in Pasco County

Kylie Jones reports

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office led water rescue operations throughout the county on Thursday due to rising water levels in the wake of Hurricane Milton.

First responders said the heavy rainfall from the major storm, in addition to rising river levels, caused flooding in several neighborhoods around Pasco County.

Officials lifted the mandatory evacuation orders that were in place for certain areas ahead of Milton. On Thursday, however, the county recommended a voluntary evacuation for people in Elfers, Thousand Oaks and Cypress Creek at Worthington Gardens and everyone in low-lying flood-prone areas because of anticipated flooding.

Dozens of first responders from the sheriff's office, Pasco County Fire Rescue, the Florida State Guard and the National Guard rescued dozens of people from Thousand Oaks, off Mitchell Boulevard Thursday morning.

Water levels began to rise Thursday morning, and by midday, the water was waist-deep in parts of Thousand Oaks.

"It has not gone into houses as bad as it had in Gulf Harbors during the last hurricane, but it is starting to creep up a little bit into peoples’ houses, and so as we’re going through, there are people saying, ‘Hey, I want to leave’," Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said. "We’re more than happy to get them on the boats and get them out of there. I think it’s going to be a long operation. Because there’s no electricity in there. There’s no running water."

Rescue boats and highwater vehicles made trips in and out of Thousand Oaks throughout the day Thursday. First responders began to shift rescue efforts to Elfers, as the water levels rose throughout the day.

MORE: Hurricane Milton brings extensive flooding to Tampa’s University Area neighborhood

By late Thursday morning, the roadways near the entrances to the Elfers area were underwater. One man who lives in Elfers stayed in his home during Milton, but he saw the waters starting to rise Thursday morning, and knew he couldn’t stay.

"I just reluctantly started packing things in the truck, because if it comes up to four feet that they’re saying, it’s coming inside," Douglas Hall said.

Hall said he’s dealt with flooding from the Anclote River before, but he didn’t expect to see the water start rising this high this time. He grabbed as many things as he could, before leaving his home and watching the water rise.

"A lot of things I have were like my mother’s or my grandparents’, and so, they’ve got a lot of sentimental value," Hall said. "Couldn’t pack all of it, so I just grabbed the few things that meant the most to me, and I went through trying to put other things up on counters or the washer and dryer."

READ: Possible sinkhole nearly swallows two Polk County homes after Hurricane Milton

The sheriff’s office said the Anclote River and Cypress Creek are expected to reach a major flood stage.

"We recognize that the Anclote is going to get backed up a little bit because of high tide, with the water flowing down, it all meets together and those are residential neighborhoods," Nocco said. "So, that’s the one issue we keep trying to relay to people, is that we don’t know if it’s going to get better. And I get it. They all want somebody to say, ‘It’s going to be fine’, and ‘Don’t worry about it. Everything’s good’. We can’t tell them that. All we can tell them is the reality we’re dealing with, is we know the water is going to keep rising."

The sheriff’s office and its partners expect the rescue operations to continue through Thursday night. Nocco said the floodwaters are likely going to linger for 24 to 48 hours. He said they also conducted water rescues in Zephyrhills on Thursday.

He’s urging anyone who doesn’t have to be out to stay home, so first responders can rescue people, get power restored and clean up from the storm as quickly as possible.

"Stay off the roads if you don’t need to be on the roads," Nocco said. "We want the power companies to have the ability to turn the power on. We want the gas companies to be able to fill up gas tanks."

The sheriff is also asking residents to stay in touch with friends and family, and let them know they are safe. He says they’ve been inundated with calls for welfare checks during and after the storm.

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