PANAMA CITY — Every community in Bay County felt the impact of flooding and constant rain Wednesday.
In Panama City, one of the hardest hit areas was Cincinnati Avenue in St. Andrews, where resident Cheryl Weaver spent Wednesday morning praying the drainage system would work better. The flooded road outside her home was a familiar scene this time around; heavy rains inundated her home last July.
“Here we go again,” she said.
The family just moved back into the house in January after completing renovations after last July’s flooding.
“I’ve been in this house 14 years,” Weaver said. “Last year was the first time in 14 years we’ve ever had it this bad.”
Although the water never entered the house Wednesday morning, Weaver took precaution by removing items from the floors and checking the water levels periodically.
“We went through this in July, so now we’re a bit better prepared,” she said.
Nearby, a family of ducks waded through the Dougherty family’s front yard on Cincinnati Avenue as rainwater continued to pool at their home.
If 4 more inches of rain fell, the water would enter the Doughertys’ home they had only recently moved back into in January. “All we can do now is hope the rain stops,” said Adele Dougherty. “If not, all we can do is hope for the best.”
After flooding ruined their furniture, cabinets, flooring and walls during historic rains the previous year, the Doughertys prepared by placing furniture on shipping pallets once they noticed the rain threatened to flood again.
City commissioners spent $25,251 on three backflow preventers after more than a foot of rain fell last Fourth of July, flooding several homes in the neighborhood. Neil Fravel, public works director, said two were running when rains began and the third kicked in early Wednesday morning.
“There was just more water than they could keep up with,” Fravel said.
Police blocked off portions of the intersection at Cincinnati and 19th Street while city workers ran portable pumps to try and keep the water from rising.
Jack Earley watched the water line from his upland home on Cincinnati. He’d gotten everything off the floor inside preparing for rain to enter. His wife would be spending the night with a friend in case the rain continued. Earley and the dog would watch over the house.
“She doesn’t like the rain,” Earley said. “After 25 years in the Marine Corps, I’m used to sleeping in worse conditions.”
Earley, a native of the notoriously rainy Portland, Ore., area, said since he moved into the house two years ago the amount of rain seen by the Sunshine State was staggering.
Overall, Panama City mostly experienced minor complaints of water in the streets, Fravel said. Several trees fell into roadways because of heavily saturated soil. Those have been cleared.
Only homes along Cincinnati reported flooding, according to Public Works records. The only city street Panama City Police closed was 19th Street, which was reopened by 1:40 p.m. But Bay County emergency officials reported numerous road closures more than a dozen closures in the county, including parts of U.S. 98 in Panama City Beach, which had reopened by Wednesday afternoon.
Panama City Beach
In Panama City Beach, the worst high-traffic roads Wednesday morning were Alf Coleman Road and Front Beach between Laurie and Allison avenues. Front Beach was covered in a sheet of ankle-deep water in the early morning but was clear by 11 a.m. Alf Coleman still had shin-deep water for about a mile south of U.S. 98 (Back Beach Road). Pickup trucks passed through the water with ease; however, a white 1990s era Buick car was a victim to flooding, abandoned in water up to its wheel wells.
Some residential streets also had standing water. Neighborhoods around State 79 and Front Beach Road had standing water in yards, but none of the residents had flooding inside as of 10 a.m.
Michele Gentles, who was working at Lowe’s at the corner of Alf Coleman and U.S. 98, was worried enough about her two golden retrievers at her home at State 79 and Front Beach to leave work. She said she had water up to her doorway.
Homes at the cul-de-sac of Abba Lane were threatened with flooding, as well. Daniel Dawsey lives in a lower-lying house on Abba Lane; ankle-deep, standing water stretched and deepened from just outside of his garage door back into the middle of the cul-de-sac. He said this was not as bad as the flooding over the Fourth of July last year, when his house had flooded.
Dawsey owns a landscaping company, so he took the day off. He reflected upon his own grass sticking up out of the water:“My grass doesn’t need cutting.
“It’s Florida,” he added. “The ground is flat. It’s hard to get the water to go anywhere.”
Businesses were not immune to the effects of excessive water. The parking lot of the Winn-Dixie was covered in ankle-deep water at 8 a.m. Center store lead John Phillips said the water was up to his knees when he got to work at 6 a.m.
“This is the worst it’s been flooding-wise since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s just constant rain. The water just doesn’t have a lot of places to go.”
The water in front of Panama City Resort and Club was even higher, about thigh-deep in the deepest section. Although the rains were heavier than normal, resort owner David Dale said this type of flooding is normal. He said a drainage pipe emptying on the beach tends to get blocked with sand, creating that amount of water. This reality didn’t stop employee Tabitha Forbes from being concerned.
“My car is small and low,” she said.
However, most Panama City Beach residents made their way to their daily locations without incident. Christy Bell was ready for work, waiting at the trolley stop near Allison and Front Beach Road. She said it was not the best day to have to ride the bus, but things could have been worse.
“If it was Sunday and I had to walk all the way to work, it would definitely be the worst days,” she said.
One man’s calamity is another’s opportunity. Daniel Lopez, Andrew Kimball and Herald Blaue, all of North Carolina, were giddy as they gathered their fishing rods and tackle boxes before venturing out onto the Russell-Fields City Pier.
“We’re out looking for kingfish,” Lopez said. “The worse the weather the better.”
Springfield, Lynn Haven
Homes in Springfield also were threatened by flooding Wednesday. Springfield officials closed several roads and handed out sandbags to homes on streets that often experience standing water.
Josh Hackney, resident of Gwendolen Court, had his own sandbags on standby since last year’s flooding. About 8 inches of water pooled at the foot of his driveway.
“It actually looks better than it did this morning,” he said.
Lynn Haven city workers put out about 100 barracades throughout the day and temporarily blocked portions of city roads, but had no reports of homes taking on water, according to City Manager Joel Schubert.
“We didn’t approach anything the magnitude of last Fourth of July,” Schubert said.
Public works crews dug a culvert behind Lynn Haven’s Wal-Mart days earlier — an area which regularly experiences flooding issues.
“We always hear about the issues,” Shubert said. “But the work they did could have saved several homes.”
News Herald staff members Valerie Garman and Heather Leiphart contributed to this report.