Sign of hope for those dealing with flooding in North Port

There were some signs of hope Saturday for those impacted by flooding in North Port. After days of fallout from Elsa, officials say that water levels are slowly starting to decrease.

Some people stocked up on sandbags for the past few days while others were forced to evacuate from their homes. North Port Fire Rescue says they are cautiously optimistic.

For now, it still takes a brush truck to safely get through the water. It was creeping up to the mailboxes feet away from people’s garage doors.

One house used their truck as a shield.

Neighbors off Sumter Boulevard still see their street as a river, others see some relief.

“At one point it was 10 feet higher than when we went to bed last night, but that had already drained off, leaving the driveway wet,” said Vanessa Carr.

She says the water is up to her calf now. Carr also drew a line of chalk Saturday morning on her driveway to show where the water hit.

“I marked that in case it was tide-related if it came back up, but it appears to be receding at this point,” Carr said.

“By all indications, on our gauges and our measurements in the field, it looks like the waters have started to come down. So that’s good; that’s earlier than we thought initially,” said Josh Taylor, spokesperson for the City of North Port.

There have been no reports of water entering homes, according to officials.

With the water receding, people are cautiously optimistic, especially if the rain stays away.

The city’s emergency management operations center remains active. For more information on sandbags and emergency shelters, follow this link. The City of North Port also breaks down why the recent flooding has occurred in the video below: