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Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Heavy rainfall causes headaches

By JEANNINE GAGE | News-Journal Staff Writer

DELAND — When Don and Theresa Hancock moved to Cascades Park in January, they had a nice house with a big yard and small retention pond in the back.

They still have the nice house, but now the yard is smaller and the retention pond has turned into, what Don calls, “the Grand Canyon.”

Recent heavy rains that have plagued Volusia County in the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie caused Sunday’s sudden erosion. Neighbors heard a loud boom and then a “whoosh” as 5 to 6 feet of water and mud slid down an embankment into a small lake.

“Yesterday it was fine,” Theresa Hancock said Monday, “then about 6 or 7 (p.m.) after the rainstorm, it just broke through.”

City and county officials visited the site Monday and said it should not cause alarm, but residents are worried that continued rains will cause the hole to grow.

“It’s a washout, not a sinkhole, but it is pretty dramatic,” said DeLand Public Services Director Keith Riger. “They may see a little change overnight, but I don’t think it’s threatening the houses. We’re just hoping for a few dry days.”

Cascades Park is not the only spot with rain-related problems. Earl Brown Park has standing water and Riger worries Amelia Avenue may be flooded if the rain continues because the water has nowhere else to go.

“Our retention ponds are full,” he said. “I just don’t know where we would put more water.”

Residents say the deluge has slowed cleanup efforts and worse, hampered power workers last week from restoring electricity.

Three weeks into the month, the rainfall amount for the Daytona Beach area is at 17.53 inches including today’s rain, four times the normal amount and about 2 inches short of the record rainfall for August set in 1953, according to the National Weather Service. And the forecast does not look promising. Rain is predicted for the next seven days.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Scotty Fargason has had enough. “I went outside and cursed the rain the other day,” Fargason said. “It really gets you down.”

As a Florida native, Fargason is used to the rain, but he never liked it. “I’ve lived through the rainy season in many beautiful places in this world,” he said, “and I don’t think I’ve enjoyed one of them.”

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