Tropical Storm Alberto spares most of Citrus County, but on the coast, some homes and businesses are flooded.
By JORGE SANCHEZ and CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published June 15, 2006
Touring west Citrus on Wednesday, it wasn't always easy to tell that a tropical storm had caused flooding the day before.
Only a few low-lying parcels, mostly in Old Homosassa, still had ankle-deep standing water. All the roads that were closed Tuesday had been reopened.
A dozen teams from Citrus County Fire Rescue, the Sheriff's Office and the county's Department of Development Services completed some basic, post-Alberto damage assessments. They found eight businesses had sustained minor damage and 28 homes that were deemed "affected" by the storm - meaning the homes are habitable but might have 3 or 4 inches of water inside.
"It's not as bad as we originally anticipated," county spokeswoman Jessica Lambert said.
After the county completes its initial assessment, Development Services employees will visit damaged areas to evaluate specific situations.
But residents shouldn't wait for county employees to show up at their doors before they call their insurance companies, County Commissioner Gary Bartell said. That should be step one, he said.
"The county is going to do the assessment, then they'll work with the insurance companies," he said.
Director of Development Services Gary Maidhof said the department will send out at least two teams to homes and businesses this week. The teams, consisting of a building inspector and a scribe who takes down information, will evaluate damage and enter it in the county's computer system.
That will guide officials during the repair and repermitting process.
In the frenzy after a storm, it's tempting to rush repair work. But Maidhof urges residents to identify storm-related repairs when they apply for permits and steer clear of hasty do-it-yourself fixups.
"While they may get away with it this time, if they get damaged again, their insurance isn't going to cover them," he said.
By now, storm preparedness is a routine with which most Citrus residents are familiar: If you live on or near the coast, be prepared to evacuate for almost any major storm. And before you leave, protect your property.
"It's what we've been preaching the last three years,'' said sheriff's Capt. Joe Eckstein, manager of the emergency management office in Lecanto.
Although the county opened four evacuation shelters, only 200 people at most used them, according to county staffers.
"Shelters are not the most comfortable places, and people are thinking about their options when it comes to evacuating,'' Eckstein said.
According to the National Weather Service and the Sheriff's Office, Alberto pushed a 5- to 6-foot storm surge ashore Tuesday. That was on top of two lunar high tides, which were about 3.5 feet above normal. Between 3 and 4 inches of rain fell Monday and Tuesday.
Deputies and other emergency workers took videos and photos of the rising waters Tuesday to use as a benchmark for future storm responses.
That way, when a 5-foot storm surge is predicted, people will have a good idea of how high the water will rise, Eckstein said.
Bartell said residents have learned to pay attention and react when a storm approaches.
"I believe the 1993 no-name storm probably had a greater impact than this storm did, primarily because there was so little notice then,'' he said.
"I think that by declaring the emergency and the evacuation on an early time frame, we saved some property and life."
At private cleanup businesses in Citrus, calls were coming in Wednesday.
Crews from Crystal River-based Servicemaster of Citrus County have been cleaning up flood damage since Monday night, owner Benje Thomas said.
"That's our business. It's what we do," he said. "We're geared up for that 24-7.'
Kevin Brooks, owner of the Paul Davis Restoration franchise in Lecanto, said the company hadn't received any calls about storm damage yet.
"Usually what happens is everybody calls their insurance agent or adjuster. Then it takes them between 24 and 72 hours to get out there and then they tell them to call us," he said. "We'll probably be real busy in the next day or two."
