Cleanup after Debby drenches Florida with catastrophic rain and flooding

AccuWeather

Storm chaser Mike Scantlin reports from Tarpon Springs, Florida, where life is returning to normal in the morning of Aug. 6, a day after Debby inundated the region with severe rain and flooding.

Transcript

00:00What happened in Florida yesterday?

00:02Boy, did we get a lot of heavy rain in the Tampa area.

00:05Yeah, there's still a very destructive

00:07and unfortunately deadly storm.

00:09We're joined right now by storm chaser, Mike Scantlin.

00:12He is live in Tarpon Springs,

00:14which he told us he would be traveling to,

00:15and he's a man of his word.

00:17Outside looks like maybe a local business there.

00:23That's right here.

00:24I'm along the Sponge Docks District of Tarpon Springs here.

00:27And you know, there was a couple of feet of water here.

00:29Some of these sandbagged areas,

00:31the water actually got up above the sandbags

00:33here in this district.

00:35Most of these shops are closed.

00:36Some of them are open.

00:37There are people cleaning up, sweeping out.

00:39I saw some leaf blowers over there

00:41being utilized to dry up some of the water.

00:44Actually, a street sweeper came by

00:45and almost took my tripod with him about two minutes ago.

00:48So, you know, cleanup is underway,

00:51but I'm having trouble finding lingering effects.

00:53I'm having trouble finding something to report on here.

00:55And if I'm in your town

00:56and I'm having trouble finding something to report on here,

00:59then that's good news here.

01:01Those lingering effects are even less lingering here.

01:05And there's city crews pulling up and cleaning up,

01:08picking up the high water sign here.

01:09They're going to take my high water sign right behind me.

01:11So, I mean, that's symbolic of moving past the storm

01:16and moving on with our lives here in the Tampa Metro.

01:19Michael, you have that peninsula, the Florida,

01:24how you have Tampa, St. Petersburg.

01:27How that little area juts out in the Gulf of Mexico.

01:31And it always seems like storms coming in from the West

01:35always avoid Tampa.

01:37Either they go off to the South or go off to the North.

01:39So, once again, we had the heavy rain in Tampa,

01:41but overall they fared very well with this storm.

01:48Absolutely.

01:48And, you know, I've been here to cover many storms

01:50and it's always the same story.

01:52Everyone says, well, it's going to miss us.

01:53But, you know, you still get those low-lying areas.

01:55It's still a lot of heavy rain issues here

01:57and surge issues.

01:58But, you know, the wind issues definitely have stayed North

02:01and this storm especially.

02:04And, you know, it seems to be,

02:06it's just going to be another day here in Tarpon Springs.

02:08Once they get these high water signs out of here,

02:10there'll be no sign of it.

02:12Well, then what's on tap for the rest of your day, Mike?

02:17That's a great question.

02:18I mean, I got to find something to report on.

02:20I got another live hit at noon and I, you know,

02:23I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel hill.

02:24And that's really good news here for the area.

02:26So I'll take it.

02:28We believe in you.

02:29He'll find something.

02:30He'll find something to report on.

02:31If there's something bad, Mike will find it.

02:33Yes.

02:34All right.

02:35Keep an eye on it again.

02:36Luckily again, Tampa escaped the worst.

02:38Now, there was some problems with flooding

02:40and we had problems on roadways,

02:42but at least for now,

02:43everything's cleaning up pretty easily.

Category

Transcript

Recommended