Flood — Manatee, Florida

2017-08-26 to 2017-08-28 · near Longbeach, Manatee, Florida

Event narrative

Heavy rain started to fall over Manatee County on the 26th and continued through the 28th, with as much as 17 inches of rain falling in some areas. The highest rain totals were reported over Bradenton, mainly on the 26th through early morning on the 27th, resulting in numerous streets flooding. Cars were reported to be floating on State Road 70 near Interstate 75, requiring at least one water rescue.

The heavy rain also caused water to enter numerous homes and businesses in Bradenton. Manatee Public Safety reporting that 67 homes, mostly in the Centre Lake community had a foot of water in them prompting the families to evacuate. Water was also reported in homes along Manatee Avenue West around 38th Street West.

One fatality was reported in Manatee County, when a 61 year old man drowned in the Sara Palms neighborhood on the evening of the 27th after his wheelchair tipped over in flood waters.

Wider weather episode

A trough of low pressure developed over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and passed east across the Florida Peninsula on the 26th through 28th of August, bringing abundant tropical moisture into the area. Heavy rain fell across the area each day, with some areas seeing over 16 inches of rain totals throughout the event. Flood waters entered numerous homes in Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, and Lee counties, as well as making numerous roads impassable and stalling vehicles. The flooding also caused two separate drowning deaths in the area.

In addition to the flooding, the storms produced some wind damage and a brief EF-0 tornado in Manatee County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (27.3889, -82.6447)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 710616. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.