Swales do their job in Charlotte County as Elsa drops buckets of rain

WINK News saw very little flooding around Charlotte County and surrounding areas, but there were some large trees uprooted and split from high winds.

Some of the trees that were felled overnight Wednesday had survived a number of stronger storms.

The damage from Elsa is nothing compared to Hurricane Charley, but a tree that survived Category 4 Charley in 2004 snapped in half during strong winds from Elsa.

Among those breathing a sigh of relief after Elsa was Scott Ellingwood of Port Charlotte.

“I’m just glad that nobody got hurt and that there’s not very much damage,” he said.

His son Zane sailed out the storm in Charlotte Harbor.

“I was worried about my son being on the boat. We kept in contact through texts.”

Most of the water stayed in the Harbor, but not all. Some streets in the historic district were closed after flooding but have since reopened.

“There were signs on the side streets that looked like it had flooded,” said Lisa Kellythorne of Punta Gorda Isles.

Flooding isn’t an issue on county roads, but you’ll see a lot of standing water. Swales did their job by catching a majority of the rainfall.

“I think the storm drains when they get clogged, they flood,” Kellythorne said.

We saw crews removing downed trees and restoring power lines.

“I hope this is the last hurricane of the season,” Ellingwood said.