Flood — Volusia, Florida

2022-09-28 to 2022-09-30 · near West Holly Hill, Volusia, Florida

Event narrative

Rainfall totals averaging between 10 to 16 inches, with locally higher amounts of up to 20 inches were reported particularly in the coastal part of the county, resulting in widespread residential, street, urban, and poor drainage flooding.

County drone and helicopter footage combined with on-site surveys captured considerable river and lakeshore flooding, with water entering numerous structures along the St. Johns River near Astor and South Moon Fish Camp, Lake Monroe in Stone Island, and Little Lake near Osteen. The St. Johns River reached record crests at both Astor (4.71 ft. on Oct. 1) and Deland (6.33 ft. on Oct. 11). See separate entry for additional details on significant (flash) flooding event in Daytona Beach, Port Orange, and New Smyrna Beach.

A 67-year-old resident of New Smyrna Beach died due to rising flood waters in his home after he fell and rescuers were unable to reach him in time (direct). A 72-year-old Deltona man drowned after falling into a flooded canal by his home while attempting to use a hose to drain his pool (direct). A 91-year-old New Smyrna Beach man was discovered in about 6 inches of water in his home by emergency responders (direct). A 79-year-old male from Daytona Beach was found face-down in water in his home (direct).

A county damage assessment indicated 3554 structures affected, 2602 with minor damage, 645 with major damage, and 48 destroyed, mainly due to widespread and historic flooding. The combined effects of Hurricane Ian led to a total estimated damage of approximately $340M.

Wider weather episode

After making landfall as a major hurricane in southwest Florida near Cayo Costa, Ian crossed the peninsula and into east central Florida (southern Osceola County) as a Category 1 Hurricane with estimated maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The system was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly thereafter and emerged into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral. Ian's slow movement and large wind field led to a long period of tropical storm force winds across all of east central Florida, as well as hurricane force gusts in squalls and historic rainfall and flooding across parts of the area. Widespread rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches were reported throughout the area, with a corridor of 10 to 20 inches across Osceola, Orange, Seminole, Volusia, and northern Brevard counties. The maximum observed rainfall total was 21.09 inches in Spruce Creek, Volusia County. The St. Johns River experienced historic rises with record crests set at Astor, Deland, Sanford, and Lake Harney in the days and weeks following Ian's heavy rainfall. A tornado briefly touched down and crossed US-192 in rural Brevard County with no damage to structures reported. Persistent onshore flow before and during the storm led to water level rises (storm surge) of 1-3 feet along the east central Florida, bringing moderate to severe beach erosion, with the most significant effects noted in Volusia County. Collectively, the effects of Hurricane Ian led to 15 storm-related fatalities (6 direct and 9 indirect) and between $800-900M in property damage across east central Florida.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.2695, -81.1075)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1058341. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.