By Brian McBride
Associate Editor
Even as Tropical Storm Nicole was expected to affect Central Florida, Kissimmee public works crews were tirelessly working to improve canal flow to avoid flooding problems in case an actual event were to strike the area.
Through a $5 million grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an arm of the United States Department of Agriculture, city crews are currently working on re-establishing the canal banks around the city that were affected by previous storms, Public Works Director Dave Derrick said.
“We are trying to fix areas where we saw previous flooding,” he added.
That calls for reshaping some of the canals with the use of concrete and removing sediment to improve the flow of water, Derrick said. Some of the canals being reworked are near Emory, Person, Earnest, Mabbette and Oak streets and Palm Avenue. The project started over the summer and could be finished by Oct. 25.
“We're talking thousands of feet overall,” Derrick said.
Tropical Storm Nicole
Tropical Storm Nicole, which was first forecast to move up the peninsula, left Osceola County with simply a light breeze and partly cloudy conditions. The storm took a much more easterly path, cutting sharply over South Florida.
“There was never a high confidence in the track to begin with,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Tim Sedlock in Melbourne, said.
But still, areas such as Cocoa Beach saw 8 inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 30 mph were recorded in Vero Beach, Sedlock said.
Nicole later moved in a northeast direction to North Carolina, dumping about 9 inches in the Southeast area between midnight and 6 a.m. Thursday, published reports said. Rain in the area was falling in bursts of between 1.5 inches to 3 inches per hour around daybreak.
Farther north, parts of eastern Virginia were under flash flood warnings, reports said. The National Weather Service also issued a tornado watch for 33 eastern Virginia counties and 21 cities.
Flash flood watches were also in effect for areas in Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Much of Pennsylvania was under a flood watch. Up to 6 inches of rain were possible in Philadelphia by the time storms left the area Friday, the weather service said.
Still, St. Cloud Fire Rescue Chief Bill Johnston was ready. Tasked with coordinating storm readiness, the city went down the emergency checklist before Nicole skirted by. City public works crews checked basins, making sure there were no blockages. Fire Rescue personnel ensured all equipment that would have been needed in storm-related work was ready and an emergency call list was updated. Johnston also was briefing City Manager Tom Hurt while Nicole passed by.
“You have to go through the motions,” Johnston said. “You have to be prepared.”
Johnston said he hoped Nicole's lackluster impact wouldn't make many residents scoff at other possible threats.
“That always is a challenge,” he said. “June 1 (start of hurricane season) every citizen should have been ready.”
Today and Sunday were forecast to be in the mid- to upper-80s, with lows in the high 60s, lower 70s, Sedlock said.