Relentless rounds of rain pounded parts of Central Florida into Monday, triggering flash flooding that stranded drivers, closed roads, inundated some homes. Forecasters called the storm a “particularly dangerous situation,” a rarely used phrase.
As much as 18 inches of rain fell in Lake County on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. It issued a flash flood emergency for two cities in the county, Eustis and Mount Dora, warning of life threatening flash flooding and urging residents to seek higher ground.
A flash flood warning was also issued for the neighboring Brevard County, where up to 13 inches of rain fell. Forecasters had warned earlier of “very heavy and slow-moving showers and thunderstorms” in the region.
That amount of rain was “definitely not normal” for the region, said Megan Tollefsen, a meteorologist at the Weather Service’s Melbourne office, adding, “This is definitely a pretty big event.”
Some areas including the city of Eustis, home to about 25,000 people, and Titusville in Brevard County, appeared to have experienced a one-in-200 years rainfall event, Ms. Tollefsen said. “We saw repeated and ongoing rounds of rain throughout the day,” she said.
In Titusville, a city of just under 50,000 located along the Indian River, the fire department said it had received several reports of water inundating homes and stranded cars.
Officials in the city of Mount Dora, which has a population of just under 20,000, told residents to boil their water before using it because of a water line break which appeared to be related to flooding caused by the rain.
Several other cities and towns in the region reported road closures as a result of flash flooding and urged residents to stay indoors.
The rain had began to ease early Monday, but the accumulated floodwater would take several hours to drain and the risk of flooding remained, the Weather Service said. Rain from the same storm system would impact the southern Appalachians and interior of the Southeast on Monday, it added.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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