'Don't Just Rely on the Flood Maps': Nowhere in Florida is Safe From Floods

SARASOTA, Fla. — Experts tell ABC Action News that people living in low-risk flood zones might have a false sense of security about flooding. That complacency can leave families in dire financial straits.

On a personal note, during my nearly 20-year career as a reporter, I've covered my fair share of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and blizzards. The blizzard events, of course, were not in Florida.

But, one environmental disaster always worried me the most: severe floods. Sometimes, a storm surge will destroy everything, making a home or even entire communities unrecognizable. 

For some flooding events I have covered, the disaster is a slow death. The water crawls in, rising like a thief at night, taking everything you love, then disappears, leaving everything in ruin. 

There is something eerie and unnatural when you first walk into a flooded home after the water is long gone. All of your items are just sitting there right where you left them. Mattresses are waterlogged, furniture destroyed, couches soaked. 

But, there it is in your living room, where 24 hours earlier, you were sitting and watching a movie. I share this to hopefully inspire more people to buy flood insurance and protect their families.

And the experts agree.

"Every homeowner in Florida should have flood insurance. Forget the flood zones. Flood zones are where you are required to have flood insurance if you have a mortgage because your lender agreement will require you to carry it," Mark Friedlander, the spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, said. "We see entire neighborhoods underwater, and the residents are saying, 'We're not in a high-risk zone; nobody told us we need flood insurance.' Our takeaway is all homeowners in Florida need to own their risk."

Hurricane Debby made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida, nowhere near Sarasota and Manatee Counties. However, the bands of rainfall were too much for many areas to handle, and people in low-risk flood zones found themselves underwater.

"It's like getting hit with a bolt of lightning," Noah Taylor, Community Rating System Coordinator with Sarasota County, told me. "It's a very low percentage, but it can happen. And that's what we've seen here with Hurricane Debby. It came through because she brought an unimaginable amount of rain here. Debby brought over 12 inches in less than three hours. So in some parts of the county, I think we got like 16 inches worth of rain in a very short amount of time."

Taylor said stormwater systems can't handle that much water.

"So that's why people were in these 'X' flood zones. And seeing flooding happening is because our systems aren't designed to do that."

ABC Action News reporterJada Williams interviewed resident after resident in the Laurel Meadows neighborhood in Sarasota County. All were angry, confused, and shocked by the rain.

"I've lived 20 years in this neighborhood, and it never flooded; Ian, Irma, all the hurricanes we've had," Sarasota County resident Kim Gregory said.

Taylor said there are better ways to interpret the risks associated with record rainfall during a 100-year flood event.

"A lot of people say, Well, I've been here 60 years, got another 40 years before it floods my property. And that's not the case," Taylor said. "FEMA has used this terminology for years, and as a floodplain manager, many of the people who are now promoting floodplain management are trying to get away from that terminology. It makes more sense to say 10 inches of rain in 24 hours because then people can go, ah, the rain gauge said we got 17 inches of rain in five hours. Now you know why it flooded: it just can't handle that rain."

Families across Manatee and Sarasota are struggling. Parrish resident Justin Short told Paluska he was on vacation in the Keys when he learned his rental home was flooding. His wife lost her car and all the contents on the first floor to the floods.

"It looked like almost a tsunami coming," Short said, describing how he watched his surveillance cameras from the Keys as the water started to rise. "I was in awe of everything we lost in the house. You know, more so all of our kid's stuff, everything else is replaceable."

When Short returned home from vacation (after water levels dropped), he saw the damage to his property and that his work truck for Deme Construction had flooded. Short told me that his boss called and told him not to come in for his shift because he had been fired. ABC Action News reviewed e-mails between Short and Alex Deme, which showed that he was fired because the work truck was lost. I called Deme, who said he had "no comment."

Short said he didn't know what was going on.

"He (Deme) said, 'Don't worry about coming in tomorrow. You're unemployed (un-expletive believable). I was completely shocked because I 100% thought he was a better person than that."

Short said his wife is struggling with health issues, and he's trying to recover as much as he can. He told me he had renter's insurance, but it didn't cover floods.

"He (landlord) didn't tell us we were in a flood zone," Short said. "He told us we had to have renters insurance, not flood insurance. I didn't realize I was in a flood zone."

Short is not alone. Many people did not have flood insurance. The best advice for anyone in Florida is to know their zone, and no matter what anyone tells you, purchase flood insurance or you are taking a risk.

"About 25% of policies claimed are in those X flood zones," Taylor said.

Short's sister made a GoFundMe to help his family get back on their feet.