Up to 14 inches of rain floods Fellsmere, Vero Lake Estates

Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·3 min read

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — As much as 14 inches of rain fell in northern Indian River County along the Interstate 95 corridor late this week, saturating Fellsmere and Vero Lake Estates, according to the National Weather Service Friday.

Pennsylvania Avenue in Fellsmere, which is west of I-95, was underwater about 9:45 a.m. Friday. A number of side streets off Pennsylvania Avenue appeared flooded as well. North Broadway Street was closed at Pennsylvania Avenue and significant amounts of water covered the Fellsmere Little League Field.

The Indian River County Emergency Services Department reported late Friday morning that Vero Lake Estates is “under severe flooding conditions.”

Also, 101st Avenue between 87th Street and County Road 512 is impassable and closed.

Garbage, recycling and yard waste routes in Fellsmere and Vero Lake Estates were suspended Friday because of the weather.

Police in Fellsmere reported at 6:30 p.m. Thursday that “all roads” there experienced flooding to some degree.

“Vero Lake Estates and Fellsmere, those were the communities that got the most rainfall,” said Derrick Weitlich, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

He said 13 to 14 inches of rain fell there, with most coming during the 7 a.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday period, though a small amount occurred during the previous 24 hours.

“The heaviest rainfall for this entire event did occur kind of along and just west of I-95 across northern Indian River County,” Weitlich said.

Scenes from Broadway Street in Fellsmere, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. The National Weather Service reported 13 to 14 inches of rain fell in northern Indian River County along the Interstate 95 corridor. All areas of Fellsmere are experiencing some degree of flooding. A flood watch was issued through late Thursday night for coastal areas of Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties.

Weitlich said the amounts are “quite unusual,” and typically are associated with tropical systems.

“We had a lot of moisture in place, we had strong onshore winds that kind of led to an increase of convergence along the coasts due to frictional effects,” Weitlich said. “Those kind of combined factors led to some locally heavy rainfall in that portion of East Central Florida.”

Significant flooding happened in the area of Vero Lake Estates, which is southwest of Sebastian and east of Interstate 95 by County Road 512, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.

Weitlich said not far away in Vero Beach, 2.79 inches fell during the storm, while in Fort Pierce, about 7.35 inches was recorded at the Treasure Coast International Airport. Across southern St. Lucie County and into Martin County there was 1 to 2 inches.

Weitlich said such localized heavy rainfall is rare.

“It does happen from time to time, especially when you get these kind of persistent rain bands that impact our coasts, from strong onshore winds,” Weitlich said.

Scenes from Broadway Street in Fellsmere, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. The National Weather Service reported 13 to 14 inches of rain fell in northern Indian River County along the Interstate 95 corridor. All areas of Fellsmere are experiencing some degree of flooding. A flood watch was issued through late Thursday night for coastal areas of Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties.

The deluge of precipitation came after a flood watch was issued through late Thursday night for the coastal areas of Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties.

Rainfall amounts of two to four inches were forecast, with up to six inches in some areas. However, the National Weather Service in Melbourne at 9 p.m. Thursday reported up to nine inches in Vero Lake Estates.

Weitlich said there were no tornadoes. The strongest winds were reported Thursday morning, around 50 to 60 mph.

The strongest gust — 64 mph — came at 3:30 a.m. Thursday at the House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island in Martin County, Weitlich said.

A 60 mph gust was recorded near Jensen Beach at 3:43 a.m. and a 55 mph gust at 3:54 a.m. at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County, he said.

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TCPalm Repoter Nick Slater contributed to this report.

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Deluge of rain floods portions of northern Indian River County