Intersection flooding stalls drivers in Cape Coral

Cars stalling at an underwater intersection in Cape Coral known for flooding after Monday’s storms.

Whenever it rains hard and fast, the intersection of Andalusia and Diplomat Parkway East in Cape Coral appears like a backyard pool. Sudden downpours flood this street quickly to the point that some avoid the area.

Rose Olivo who’s visiting the area said, “That was the worst I’ve seen it. Even had waves. Like it was the beach.”

Cape Coral resident, Ryan Meisenheimer is familiar with seeing cars create waves driving through the flooded intersection.

Meisenheimer said, “I definitely have been afraid that I was absolutely stuck and you know I was snorkeling through in my little KIA hoping that I would make it to the other end of the road.” Meisenheimer drives through the intersection every day but knows better when it starts to rain.

Meisenheimer said, “In some cases, I won’t leave the house because I don’t know if I’m going to get stuck or not.”

Which explains what happened to the driver of the red car below. The car spent the night on the median until a tow truck took it away Tuesday because the engine stalled and then stopped.

Meisenheimer said, “Unless you got a big truck you’re not going through it.”

The flooding was gone Tuesday with just some remnants. The city says it usually drains into the canal within 24 hours and happens when rainfall exceeds the capacity of the drainage system. Sometimes the road becomes a temporary storage area until the system catches up.