Flash Flood in Santa Rosa County, Florida

Major to historic flash flooding took place on the evening of April 29th through the early morning of April 30th as 12 to 22 inches of rain fell across the southern half of Santa Rosa county. The highest measured rainfall was 20.39 inches 10 miles south of Milton by a CoCoRAHS observer.||Hundreds of homes and businesses experienced significant flooding with property damage estimated to be just under $10 million. The hardest hit areas included Milton, Gulf Breeze, and Navarre. In addition, widespread infrastructure damage to roads, bridges, and drainage systems was caused by the rapid rising flood waters. Infrastructure damage is estimated to have cost around $6 million.

Heavy rains that began on March 31 and continued into April 1, caused flooding in the central and southern parts of the county. Numerous roads had to be closed for several hours because of the heavy rains. It was estimated that seven to ten inches of rain fell across the area in a 24 hour period. The biggest problems from the rains were the closed roads. Several people were confined to their neighborhoods because roads were flooded leading out of their sub divisions. They were able to get out after the water had drained. No injuries occurred.

Heavy rains again caused numerous streets to flood in the central and southern parts of the county. Rainfall totals of six to eight inches in a twelve hour period caused water to pond in several locations. Many drainage systems were also still clogged from debris from Ivan and caused water to pond more quickly than would normally occur. Areas along the coast seemed to have the most trouble with poor drainage and street flooding. From March 31 through April 7, it was estimated that 9 to 18 inches of rain fell generally along and south of I-10 with the heaviest amounts being along the coastal communities.