SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Two days after Hurricane Milton battered Florida, communities across the state are still dealing with flooding from rivers and creeks. The storm dropped as much as 19" of rain on some parts of Pinellas County. The county sits on a peninsula in the middle of Tampa Bay, and it's very susceptible to flooding. In Clearwater, rescue crews helped more than 500 people evacuate from an apartment complex because of flooding from a nearby creek. NPR's Greg Allen reports residents are wondering now if they'll ever be able to return.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Masada Harris was looking out his window at the Standard Apartments in Clearwater as Milton roared through early Thursday morning.
MASADA HARRIS: So I'm seeing cars move, so I'm wondering, like, well, where are they going? And as I sat there, and the last truck moved, and I seen, like, a waterwave. I thought I'd seen a water wave, so I'm like, oh, wait, hold on.
ALLEN: Harris was relatively lucky. His apartment is on the second floor of this sprawling, older complex. When he saw the flooding, he ran out and moved his car to higher ground in a nearby shopping center. By the time he got back to his building, he says he realized his family and all the residents were in trouble.
HARRIS: In that moment there, we had a neighbor downstairs, and they opened their door 'cause they was in the house the whole time. So they opened they door, and all the water rushed in their house. So we helped them get out. And once we - the water was up to our waistline at that point.
ALLEN: In his part of the complex, Harris says, the water was four feet deep. In other sections, it was neck-deep. They live next to Alligator Creek. When authorities told him and his family they had to evacuate, they waded out nervously through the murky floodwaters.
HARRIS: Now, even on a day when it's not raining, I've actually seen alligators - just small alligators walking around the apartment complex. So that's another thing that I was scared of. We're in pitch black. We're in the water, waist-deep, and I'm thinking, like, oh, my God, alligators and snakes.
ALLEN: Harris and his family are staying with a cousin now. Today, he and other residents gathered outside the apartment complex in hopes they could get back in to retrieve what they could from their flooded homes and vehicles. Angela Gonzales (ph) wanted to get baby clothes and supplies for her daughter, who evacuated with her newborn.
ANGELA GONZALES: They told us that nobody can go in 'cause there's alligators in the middle. I mean...
ALLEN: Yeah. You don't believe that, do you?
GONZALES: I really don't.
ALLEN: Law enforcement personnel and the building's management said they wanted to make sure it was safe before they allowed residents back in temporarily. Kelvin Glenn was there today to see if he could retrieve some medicine from his flooded first-floor apartment. He recalls what it was like in the early morning hours on Thursday. He woke up and realized water was coming in.
KELVIN GLENN: So I walked into the living room, where the kids were sleeping at. The water was already up to my ankle. And then, within about 2 o'clock, sir, water was already wait - to the waist, right?
ALLEN: Waist deep?
GLENN: And I already got the kids with me. I'm talking about - I got kids from the ages of 17, 16, 14, 13, 8 and 3 years old.
ALLEN: Glenn called 911 but was told rescue crews couldn't respond until the worst of the storm passed. He says his kids spent the next 2 hours perched on a table until he could find a flashlight and get them upstairs to a neighbor's apartment. A few hours later, rescue crews arrived and used boats to evacuate Glenn and his family. The flood, he says, took his car and everything they own.
GLENN: Stuff can be replaced, but your life can't be replaced. So I tell anybody who been through this, who haven't witnessed it, and I'm the one who witnessed it - don't mess around when it comes to a hurricane, because it'll freak you out.
ALLEN: Glenn says the complex had minor flooding several times while he's lived there, but nothing like this. The apartment building is not in an evacuation zone, and residents say no one told them before the storm that they should leave. After this, Glenn doubts that any apartments in the complex will be livable. He's focused now on finding a new place to live and says, fortunately, he has insurance for his possessions and his vehicles.
Greg Allen NPR News, Clearwater, Florida. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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