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ROBERT FARLEYA handful of houses flood Monday along Shore Drive and Shore Boulevard, leaving residents only enough time to retreat to the high ground of the couch.
OLDSMAR - After taking a peek outside about 4 a.m. Monday, Dr. Larry Stevens went to sleep convinced that any storm surge from Frances would not threaten his bayfront home.
Two hours later, he awoke to find that water had crept to within 3 inches of his back door. And it was rising fast.
Stevens, 61, and his wife frantically stacked extra sandbags outside their doors and crammed rugs against the insides.
"We had this crazy idea it would stop the flow," Mary Stevens said. "But there was too much water coming too fast. We were watching it come and come, and there was nothing we could do about it."
The water seeped in through the walls and the doors.
Around that time, authorities came and warned coastal residents to seek higher ground, but the Stevens said the streets around their home were flooded by then.
"There was no time to get out," said Mrs. Stevens, 57. "I wanted to get out, but there was nowhere to go."
After stacking valuables on table tops, the couple sought refuge on a couch in the living room with their four dogs.
"What else could we do?" she said.
They watched as waves crashed against the back sliding glass doors.
"It looked like a ship at sea," Stevens said.
Slowly, the water rose in their living room. At its peak, 4 inches of foul-smelling water filled the house.
Theirs was one of a handful of homes that flooded along the coastal area of Shore Drive and Shore Boulevard in Oldsmar on Monday morning. The water was deep enough on Shore Drive for one man to break out his kayak Monday afternoon for a tour of the neighborhood.
A sailboat broke free and ended up at the corner of Shore Drive and Oakwood Boulevard. All day Monday, people drove through water to gawk at and photograph the wayward vessel.
"Yeah, it's become the main tourist stop,' said neighbor Rick Barrett, who noted that water stopped just short of the doorstep of most of the homes on his street.
"I can't believe this," said Ray Jurgens, 59, looking out as waves crashed over his upended dock while his boat bounced precariously in its mooring.
His neighbor's home, which was not occupied, appeared to have flood damage. But Jurgens' house, like many built in recent years, was high enough to escape damage.
It could have been much worse, said Terry Linton, Oldsmar's street and drainage supervisor. After touring the city Monday afternoon to assess damage, he said most was confined to a handful of flooded homes. City workers also removed several large trees that had fallen in the street.
"We got lucky this time," Linton said.
At its height, the storm surge crested the 4-foot fence behind Sam Brandon's waterfront home on Shore Drive.
The backyard pool was dark with bay water and debris. The yard had become a swamp.
Brandon, 50, took it all in stride.
"You live on the water, these things happen," he said.
It costs $500 to have the pool pumped and cleaned, Brandon noted.
"Do I even bother to do that this week with Ivan coming?"