PANAMA CITY – Heavy rainfall flooded roads and brought floodwater to the doorsteps of several Bay County residents over the weekend, but an extended break in the tropical weather system allowed waters to recede and spared many at-risk homes from damage.
Conditions were sunny and clear in the Panama City area early Sunday after most areas of the county were soaked by 3-5 inches of steady rainfall the previous day. Scattered showers and thunderstorms returned in the afternoon, dropping an additional 1-2 inches of rain in some areas as a regional storm front lingered and a moist tropical air mass continued stirring in the Gulf of Mexico. Since Friday, Panama City has received an estimated 8.54 inches of rain in some areas.
Sunday, sandbags remained outside homes in Lynn Haven’s Belaire Estates neighborhood and nearby Ravenwood Apartments. There were large puddles in many areas, but most floodwater had receded. An estimated 3.97 inches of rain fell in Lynn Haven since Friday, though localized estimates are higher. One of the larger pools of remaining floodwater was in Lynn Village apartments on West 26th Street, where several inches of water were being pumped from a low-lying parking lot.
Across the street on Floyd Drive, 74-year-old Bruce McLauhorn said he watched floodwater inch closer and closer to his home Saturday.
“Another hour of that rain and we would’ve flooded,” he said. “It was very close. Just missed it.”
His son flagged down motorists Saturday, telling them to slow down to prevent wakes from pushing water into the home. “NO WAKE” was also smudged onto the side of a dusty portable storage container outside the home. The container – and a large dumpster – have been in McLauhorn’s driveway since historic rainfall and flooding hit the area in July and caused major damage to his home. McLauhorn, who is a retired Navy SEAL, and his wife have been living at a friend’s cottage while repairs to their home continue.
As for Cincinnati Avenue in Panama City, where floodwater reached one foot in some places and shut down part of 19th Street, conditions were much drier on Sunday. Barricades blocking traffic were removed and the streets were re-opened.
While Cincinnati was among many roads that dried out, conditions on others deteriorated, forcing school closures and stranding some residents. Washington, Holmes and Jackson counties announced its public schools will be closed Monday, citing dangerous road conditions caused by rain and flooding. Officials have scheduled road assessments to determine if further cancellations will be necessary this week. Emergency Management officials in each county have urged motorists to use caution.
Bay District schools are scheduled to open on Tuesday. However, orientation at Hutchison Beach Elementary School planned for Monday was cancelled due to flooding in areas of the school, officials wrote in a news release.
"All other schedules remain intact at this time," they added.
In Youngstown, a large stretch of Muscogee Drive was washed away, exposing pipes and electrical wires underneath. The washout effectively trapped 13 families in a neighborhood accessed by the road, according to resident Kimberly Hayden.
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport also experienced weather-related problems Sunday. A lightning strike caused a temporary power failure at the air traffic control tower, disrupting radio communication for about 20 minutes, according to airport executive director Parker McClellan. No flights were delayed, and “at no point was anybody in any danger” due to the outage, McClellan said.
More showers and thunderstorms are expected through the week, though rainfall amounts are expected to dwindle. A 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms is forecast Monday, and a 50 percent chance is forecast Tuesday.
“The bottom line is we’re in for another day or two of at or above normal precipitation,” said NWS meteorologist Ron Block.
A flash flood watch will remain in effect.
“Even if this heavy rain dissipates, the ground is still very saturated across much of Bay County and any additional rain is enough to cause certainly localized flooding on roads and streets and streams, and particularly low-lying areas,” Block said.
RAINFALL TOTALS FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT
Panama City: 8.54”
Panama City Beach: 4.84”
Callaway: 6.26 “
Lynn Haven: 3.97”
Marianna: 9.25”