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Description
After about a month of persistent heavy rainfall
across Central Florida, rivers to west and southwest of Tampa Bay
were ripe for substantial runoff.
On June 20, a plume of tropical moisture began sinking
southward toward the central Florida peninsula.
This was coupled with a persistent area of divergence aloft.
In the 48 hours ending the morning of June 22, up to a foot
of rain fell in the Myakka Head and Myakka City areas just west of
Sarasota.
The ensuing runoff created record flooding at four
SERFC forecast points, including the length of the upper Manatee
River. The initial
record flooding took place at the Manatee River headwaters gauging
site at Myakka Head, where the river rose to 20.85 ft. late on the
evening of June 21. The
following morning, the pool at Manatee Dam rose to a record 42.42
ft. Shortly
thereafter the river below the dam at Rye Bridge reached
19.71 ft., representing the highest level since the dam was built
and the second highest level ever.
Horse Creek at Arcadia topped out at 18.02 ft. during the
pre-dawn hours of June 23, while Myakka River at Myakka State Park
peaked at 12.46 the morning of June 24.
Despite the massive flooding, no lives were lost.
The flooding resulted in the evacuation of 2000 people, many
of these downstream of Manatee Dam.
During the afternoon of June 21, one gate became stuck,
forcing the lake’s pool to its record levels.
With the lake threatening to breach the emergency spillway,
divers were dispatched to repair the gate underwater.
County officials used reverse 911 to notify residents of the
situation and to evacuate more than 500 homes.
Once the gate was repaired, all gates were opened to relieve
pressure off the top of the dam.
This became the first time in the dam's history that all of
the gates had been raised to their maximum release point.
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