Peace River in Arcadia floods after Hurricane Idalia

Hurricane Idalia made landfall more than four hours north of us, but areas of Southwest Florida are still feeling the effects. DeSoto County Emergency Management shut down Brownville Park, the Veterans Memorial Park boat ramp and the Nocatee boat ramp because of flooding from the Peace River.

DeSoto County Emergency Management said that right now the river is at 12 feet, and we can expect that number to go up.

Houston Griffis has lived in Arcadia all his life.

“My grandma’s the original caretaker, this park, so we’ve seen this 100 times at least,” Griffis said.

He sees first hand what hurricanes and tropical storms do to the Peace River. His mom’s house sits right in front of the water.

“When Ian came up here, they had to redo the trailer here and put it up to where the last mark was, or the record of however, the river high however, it goes up, so Ian broke the record, so that’s why that trailer is sitting up higher,” Griffis said.

As for Hurricane Idalia, the first 24 hours wasn’t bad, according to Griffis, but as days went by…

“But just like now when storm surge is going in the next couple of days, started getting more and more,” Griffis said.

DeSoto Emergency Management said that with Ian the water reached 22 feet, and the Peace River stands at nearly 12 feet and is expected to reach 13 after Idalia.

The parks and boat ramps in DeSoto County will remain closed until further notice, until the Peace River’s water recedes.