Melissa Pérez-Carrillo,Heather BushmanSarasota Herald-Tribune
Downtown Sarasota businesses bore the brunt of Tuesday’s downpour, which saw 5-10 inches of rain flood the streets.
Restaurants on St. Armands Circle and Siesta Key sustained some of the worst flooding. Siesta Key restaurants The Cottage and The Hub Baja Grill have announced they were closed on Wednesday.
The inclement weather left restaurants like Mattison’s City Grill at 1 Lemon Ave. deserted. Darryl Dillon, the restaurant’s general manager, said water crept into the outdoor patio for the first time in a storm that wasn’t a hurricane.
“Nobody was out,” Dillon said. “I stepped out of my car into a foot-and-a-half of water.”
Flooding causes downtown Sarasota restaurant to think more about hurricane season
Restaurateurs in downtown Sarasota herald outdoor seating as a highlight of their businesses, with bayfront views and mostly pleasant weather adding an extra dimension to the dining experience. But when the rain and the wind hit, that option disappears.
Matt Hess, one of the owners of El Melvin Cocina Mexicana at 1355 Main St., said the outdoor option is a vital piece of the restaurant’s puzzle — which also includes live music and open accordion doors.
“It’s huge,” Hess said. “We want to make sure that that invites people to walk in.”
In an oceanside city, Hess said, it’s paramount to build a rain protocol that both keeps doors open and customers and staff protected. With this year’s hurricane season speculated as one of the most intense on record, he said he and his staff are looking to revise their procedures.
“Typically we board up, but we’re thinking about having some tracks set down.” “We’re already thinking about the next coming months.”
Is there more rain and flooding to come for Sarasota-Manatee?
National Weather Service Tampa Bay meteorologist Christianne Pearce said that while Sarasota County might see a bit of a lull, there’s still tropical moisture in the gulf that will be firing up today and making its way to the coast.
While the severe drought in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties may have helped with water absorption, the saturated ground won’t be able to absorb incoming rain as well as it has, which could lead to more flooding later this week, Pearce said.
“We’re at higher risk of experiencing flooding,” Pearce said. “It [flooding] could happen a little bit quicker as the week progresses.”
Florida Power and Light’s Power Tracker reported that 738 customers in Manatee County out of 203,709 served had outages. In Sarasota County, 293 customers out of 292,242 were also experiencing outages.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office received 18 service calls for cars stuck in water and four calls for abandoned cars. There were also quite a few calls by owners for tow trucks who didn’t end up needing SCSO’s assistance, said Dana Judge, SCSO Media Relations Specialist.
The Sarasota County Fire Department received 43 service calls for cars stuck in floodwater, 39 calls for fire alarms and 15 calls for downed wires. Between 8 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, personnel responded to 282 total calls for service – 100 more calls than their daily average.
Assistant Fire Chief Tim Dorsey said that crews were able to safely evacuate people trapped in their cars, but some residents chose to stay in their cars until the water receded. Crews will continue to be on alert in case residents need assistance throughout the rainy week.
“It’s static water,” Dorsey said. “They’re not in any danger. If the water was moving or other scenarios that would make it more dangerous, we would definitely extricate them from the vehicle.”
Why was the flooding so bad on Sarasota roads?
Northern Sarasota County and Sarasota proper received eight inches of rain in just three hours that overwhelmed the county’s storm drainage.
Sarasota County Public Works Director Spencer Anderson said that he had crews out all last night clearing debris on storm grates and improving drainage in order to help the pump system clear water from the roads.
One of the bridge approaches between Clark Road and Siesta Drive was impacted during the Phillippi Creek flash. Its sidewalk and one of its northbound lanes is closed.
“It’s very unusual,” Anderson said. “It overwhelmed the majority of storm systems where we were at. We haven’t had a storm like that in quite a while.”
Anderson said they saw water recede and roads cleared early this morning. While the county has recently invested over $1 million to rehabilitate the pump stations in St. Armands, Anderson said that the heavy rain completely overwhelmed the system.
Crews are out in areas most impacted in the county and are cleaning storm drains, grates and roadways to clean debris.
“It does show us where our weak spots are, but it was a unique event,” Anderson said. “For it to occur as early in the storm season as it did, it does help us to know where we need to tweak some things in the future.”
Both Manatee and Sarasota counties will remain under flood watch through 8 p.m. on Thursday, but Manatee County Information Outreach Manager Bill Logan said that the county “dodged a bullet” and hasn’t seen any major flooding in any of the roadways. They’ve only seen some slight puddling, but agencies that sit on the Sarasota-Manatee County border have and will continue to assist when needed.
Flooding in Sarasota has outsized impact on the unhoused
April Glasco, owner of Second Chance Last Opportunity said that she always sees an uptick in food insecurity during times of heavy rain. SCLO provides life skill classes, clothes and groceries for those in need.
“Yesterday caught a lot of people by surprise, and there are the people who are barely making it,” Glasco said.
Glasco gave away two tents yesterday to a couple who is unhoused and looking for a semblance of shelter during the heavy rainfall. She’s working to stock up SCLO’s food pantry for the coming week.
Because people who are experiencing homelessness don’t have anywhere to store their food, the storms wipe out their resources, and they often end up at nonprofits like Glasco’s.
No emergency shelters or evacuation centers are open at this time in Sarasota County.
“It’s just terrible,” Glasco said. “I’m concerned about the families that don’t have as much. I don’t want them to reexperience what they have when the last hurricane hit. I want them to make sure they have the supplies that they need.”
