TAMPA - Drenching thunderstorms that caused more flooding and worry around the Tampa Bay area Monday are expected to ease today, but more rain is on the way.
A huge low-pressure system that has dumped more than 10 inches of rain in some areas since Friday is expected to start breaking up today.
Forecasters predict scattered thundershowers today and Wednesday, a brief respite from the pounding rains of the past few days.
On Thursday, however, more heavy rains are expected as a broad area of thunderstorms, now about 400 miles north of Puerto Rico, moves westward across the southern half of the Florida peninsula. Forecasters are carefully watching that system for development.
"Tuesday and Wednesday should not be too bad, but then the chances of heavy rain go fairly high again on Thursday," said Richard Rude, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.
The recent onslaught of rain in a year of above-average rainfall has left many areas on the brink of major problems.
The volume of rain is not the only problem; because the ground is saturated, the water has no place to go.
The aquifer, the underground store of water that sustains the area's drinking water needs, has been at above-normal levels for several months now. At its most recent reading Wednesday, it was about 2 feet higher than the top end of the normal range, said Michael Molligan, spokesman for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
"I think we've had enough for a while, and a lot of people could afford some drying out," Molligan said.
Much of Florida agrees.
Across the state, heavy thunderstorms and tornadoes have damaged hundreds of homes and have been blamed in several deaths, including two drownings in west central Florida.
In Hernando County, a Michigan man fishing early Sunday morning fell into Jenkins Park Creek near Hernando Beach and was swept away by currents fortified by the rain.
In Bradenton, officials recovered the body of an apparently middle-aged man, dressed in a blue jumpsuit, who was believed to have been carried off by a churning creek as he rode his bicycle on a flooded street Saturday. A boater found the body floating in the Manatee River. Police were conducting fingerprint tests in an attempt to identify him. As the storms continued Monday, swollen rivers continued to flood roads and inundate yards.
Minor flooding occurred along the Alafia River in Hillsborough County, the Cypress River in Pasco and the Withlacoochee River in Citrus and Hernando counties, said meteorologist Russell Henes.
The rivers weren't expected to recede before Tuesday.
The Withlacoochee River reached 9.2 feet - 1.2 feet above flood stage - at 10 a.m. Monday, and was expected to crest about 8 a.m. today, according to the National Weather Service.
In Hillsborough County, the Alafia River was holding at 13.9 feet Monday afternoon while light rain continued to fall. A few nearby streets were submerged, said Tom Dougherty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
In parts of Pasco County, homeowners piled up sandbags, powered up their water pumps and moved their belongings to higher ground as floodwaters neared.
The weekend rains hit northwest Pasco County the hardest, according to the National Weather Service.
That area received more than 11 inches of rain from Friday through Sunday.
It was a similar story in Hernando County.
At the Berkeley Manor residential community, about 3 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, water infiltrated at least four homes, and power had to be shut off to 21, said county emergency management director Tom Leto.
Citrus County government has declared a local state of emergency because of the rising Withlacoochee River.
Minor flooding has occurred in northeast Citrus, especially in low-lying areas such as the Arrowhead subdivision, where a handful of people evacuated. Many more stayed at home and piled sandbags to keep the water back.
- Times staff writers Jim Ross, Robert King and Bridget Hall Grumet and the Associated Press and the Bradenton Herald contributed to this report.
