ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A powerful Gulf storm caused major problems for people living in the St. Petersburg area as many roads were flooded from the heavy rainfall late Saturday night.
The Tanglewood neighborhood resembled a swimming pool this morning.
Eric Droblyen said he had no idea what he was in for.
“I knew we were getting some rain, but I had no idea. That was nuts.”
Droblyen said he woke up early at his home in Venetian Isles to catch a flight home for the holidays.
“It wasn’t until we got to Shore Acres that we [realized] we can’t get out of this,” he said.
62nd Avenue and Bayou Grand Avenue were both shut down with police blocking off the roads from traffic.
Matt Sutterlin said he was blindsided when he tried to make it back after a party early in the morning.
“I went to my friend's Christmas Party last night, left around 1 a.m., came home but couldn’t get home because everything was closed down and flooded,” Sutterlin said.
The amount of water caught Sutterlin by surprise. He said he spent the night stranded – sleeping in his car.
“I was expecting to come home, but it was not in the cards.”
Some neighbors abandoned their cars, took off their shoes and trekked across the flooded roads on foot.
Frank Hoffman said he wasn’t caught off guard by the amount of flooding.
“It’s a pretty normal occurrence over here, even when you have a little bit of rain, it piles up pretty quickly,” he said.
And for Sutterlin, who’s still sporting his Christmas beads from last night, is left wondering when he can go home.
“Whenever the water recedes, I guess.”