Rains wearing out welcome

Residents are looking forward to drier days.

By AUSTIN BOGUES, Times staff writer
Published August 3, 2007

Afternoon storm clouds linger over the Gulf as Justin Byrnes, 10, left, baits a hook with shrimp while Patrick Phillips, 12 hops back from a rock to the board walk as the two boys fish along rain-soaked Hudson Beach Thursday afternoon. The afternoon's catch included pinfish and a mangrove snapper too small too keep.
	[Times photo | Brendan Fitterer]

BROOKSVILLE - Viennesse Black is tired of cutting through her neighbor's field just to reach her house.

Black, 54, lives on Cornflower Road off Barnett Road in Brooksville, the entrance of which has begun to look like a moat during the last two weeks.

To make matters worse, during the rainy fortnight she's seen a few water moccasins winding through the water. "The only way I'm going to be able to get out in a little bit is by helicopter," she said during Thursday afternoon's downpour.

Hernando has received a total 4.84 inches of rain since Monday morning, and the amount is building. Thursday alone, by 3 p.m., 1.26 inches of rain had fallen on the county, according to the National Weather Service.

"That's a good, healthy soaking," said Ryan Harper, a NWS meteorologist.

The county is 10 inches below normal for the year since Jan. 1, Harper said. The wet week has come from a front that has stalled over the area, he added.

Tom Leto, Director of Emergency Management for Hernando County, said workers were monitoring localized flooding in the county, including Barnett Road. He said Thursday afternoon that he had not received any reports of flooded homes.

Some Hernando residents were happy to see more rain. "I'm glad its raining; we've had a long enough dry spell" said Hubert Delaine, 78, of Brooksville. Delaine has a few fruit trees in his yard that he said could certainly use the water.

But others were more inconvenienced. Venda Marcus, 54, waded through shin-high water in the driveway of her home in Brooksville to check the mail.

"I just take off my shoes and jump in," she said.

For the Timucans crew at Camp E-How-Kee, the Eckerd Youth Alternatives wilderness camp south of Brooksville, the prolonged rain brought an unwelcome visitor: An alligator.

Before dawn Wednesday, a 7-foot alligator wandered through their camp, obviously lost among the lake-like puddles in the nearby woods. Camp officials called animal control, and in the meantime the crew of 10 boys will sleep in the dining hall. But they aren't complaining - the building is air-conditioned.

Brooksville farmer David Frazier is hoping the heavy rains don't strip his soil of nutrients and ruin this year's crop of sweet corn.

"It's good to have some but too much rain leaches the soil of potassium and nitrogen, which isn't good for planting new crops," he said. Frazier typically holds off on planting till mid-August to escape the hard summer rains.

The National Weather Service said that weather should be easing up over the area as the front moves north, although there is a 40 percent chance of rain today.

Staff Writer John Frank contributed to this report. Austin Bogues can be reached at abogues@sptimes.com or 352 754-6117.

[Last modified August 2, 2007, 21:59:57]