Florida town still underwater a month after Hurricane Milton

Most flash flood waters recede as quickly as they rise, but river flooding can sometimes last more than a week. With Florida's flat landscape and surrounding ocean, rivers recede exceptionally slowly.

In the Ridge Manor community about 50 miles west of Orlando, water still covers yards and homes more than a month after Hurricane Milton.

A flood warning has been in effect for the town for 34 days, one of the few remaining warnings since Hurricane Milton roared across the state.

Residents have taken to using airboats to travel to work and school. Many also used airboats to vote in the 2024 presidential election in a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center that was converted to a polling location.

The National Weather Service (NWS) describes river flooding by denoting consistent stages of water levels at river gauges. The markers increase in severity from "action," "minor flooding" and "moderate flooding" to "major flooding."

Hurricane Milton dropped more than 15 inches of rain from Tampa to Daytona Beach on Oct. 9-10, but the Withlacoochee River gauge at nearby Trilby, Florida, didn't reach its maximum height of 19.68 feet until 10 days later.

It was the third-highest crest for the river gauge, only 8.64 inches below the record set in 1934. The river finally fell below the major stage on Oct. 30, dropped to the moderate stage on Nov. 7 and is expected to fall below the minor flooding stage today, Nov. 12.

A neighborhood still flooded from Hurricane Milton prepares to have the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center converted to a polling location for the general election on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Ridge Manor, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)