SARASOTA, Fla. - As hurricane season approaches, people living along the Myakka River are keeping a close eye on flood levels.
Living along the Myakka River is “a little piece of heaven,” said Austin Thinnes, who grew up on the river.
“A lot of fishing…know the river like the back of my hand,” he said. "What’s the price for living in paradise? Flooding. We’re veterans of this, we’ve been through four plus floods, know the drill. Grab a U-Haul and start moving into a big U-Haul and get to high ground.”
Sarasota County keeps track of previous floods at Sleeping Turtle Preserves, where a stick marks 11 floods starting in 1988. Two from last September are missing. The worst flood was in 2003 at 12 and half feet.
“They need to be aware and most are,” said Ed McCrane, Sarasota County’s chief of emergency operations.
The flood gauge at Myakka State Park is at seven feet, which is a minor flood stage when only the park trails flood, McCrane said. At eight feet an emergency notification is sent to residents. At 10 feet there’s major flooding in neighborhoods along the river, which happened last September.
Emergency officials keep an eye on rainfall north and east of the river because it takes a couple of days for the water flow to make it downstream.
During Subtropical Storm Alberto, the warning wasn’t needed. The river didn’t rise beyond seven feet and is now expected to drop.
“That’s pretty much all we can do," McCrane said. "We can’t divert the river, can’t stop the water flow. People there know the hazards of what happens when the river floods.”
It's why Thinnes' parents are considering leaving their "piece of heaven."
“If it floods again like it did with Irma the house is up for sale,” he said.
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