DeSantis Declares a Flooding Emergency for Seven Florida Counties — and Palm Beach County Is Not One of Them
The governor's Monday order covers Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie, the counties hit hardest by a 1,000-year rain. Palm Beach County, which has asked the state for help after the Learjet crash and a foot of its own rain, is not on the list.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Monday for seven Florida counties hit by the weekend's record flooding, the Palm Beach Post reported, as 34 counties across the state sat under flood watches or warnings. The order covers Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties. Palm Beach County is not among them.
Brevard County took the worst of the deluge. FOX Weather reported radar estimates of 18 to 20 inches of rain in 12 hours just south of Palm Bay — past the 15.5-inch mark that NOAA counts as a 1,000-year flood event — and the National Weather Service in Melbourne recorded 16 to 22 inches on its gauges by Monday afternoon. The weather service warned Brevard residents of “extremely dangerous and life-threatening conditions,” and a Flash Flood Emergency for the county expired Monday with a Flash Flood Warning still in effect. Schools were closed Monday in Brevard, Glades and Hardee counties, and Brevard and Hardee schools will stay closed Tuesday, with DeSoto County schools closed Tuesday and Wednesday, the Post reported.
Palm Beach County's absence from the list lands while the county is still waiting on a separate request. County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo said Monday that the county, which declared a local emergency, is seeking a state executive order recognizing the emergency so it can reach additional funds — a request first reported in this station's coverage of the Learjet crash response, where hundreds of Greenacres residents remain displaced. The governor's Monday order, as reported, addresses the flooding counties only.
The rain is not finished. A flood watch for east central Florida, including Indian River, Martin, St. Lucie, Volusia, Okeechobee and Brevard, runs through Tuesday morning, rain is expected to linger Tuesday before skies clear midweek, and the weather service in Melbourne warned that even another 1 to 2 inches could worsen the flooding already on the ground. West Palm Beach's own live feed on Monday evening read 77.2 degrees and overcast with a 68 percent Monday precipitation chance, falling to 31 percent for Election Day.
