The two signs posted on the front of Bobby White’s porch carried no authority, only a plea for consideration.
In black lettering on cardboard, one of the signs facing Ridge Meadow Drive read, “PLEASE SLOW DOWN NO WAKE.”
Nearly a week after the arrival of Hurricane Milton, several inches of standing water remained on the street in front of White’s house. Though the standing water had receded significantly, a pool covering the road remained deep enough Tuesday morning that compact vehicles were in danger of flooding or stalling if their drivers risked passing through it.
Ridge Meadow Drive juts southeast from Rockridge Road in North Lakeland, an area whose residents were still coping with flooding five days after the peak of Hurricane Milton’s rains.
Dillon Kratzer, who lives across the street from White, was able to load his children into his truck and pull out of his driveway.
“I talked to a gentleman the other day,” Kratzer said before departing. “He said, ‘I’ve been out here 35 years, and this is the worst it’s ever been.’ ”
Ridge Meadow Drive provides the only entry and exit for a series of connected streets extending about three-quarters of a mile to the east. Kratzer and his family left before Hurricane Milton’s arrival to take refuge with his parents in South Lakeland.
‘We can’t get no relief’: On Lake Bonny in Lakeland, Milton brings unprecedented flooding
Kratzer said he returned home Saturday.
“When we turned the corner, it was like something we’d never seen before,” he said. “Walking through the driveway, it was about thigh deep.”
Trapped in home for days
White and his wife, Caryn, remained in their small, manufactured home throughout the hurricane. White said his weather station measured 18 inches of rain before it stopped working.
A tornado swept through an adjacent property during the hurricane, White said, spinning the branches of a large tree against the trunk like cotton candy.
The floodwaters rose to the top of the skirting that extends from the bottom of the manufactured home to the ground, a depth of about four feet. White, whose vehicle is an SUV, said the flooding prevented him from backing out of his driveway until Sunday. A jon boat rested against his front porch Tuesday morning.
Most of the skirting on Kratzer’s and White’s homes had come dislodged, but White said that was not a direct result of the flooding.
“All these houses were fine until the waves started coming,” he said, indicating the reason for his two signs intended for drivers.
“We have three bad apples in here,” White said. “We’re yelling at them, ‘Slow down.’ (They said), ‘You’ve been yelling at me all day,’ and they sped up to the point where the water goes right over the hood of their trucks.”
Vehicles traveling along the street Tuesday morning mostly slowed as they spun through the deepest section of standing water, sending out wakes several inches high. During a lull in vehicle traffic, a white ibis waded across the street.
A surveyor in a small vehicle decided against venturing through the deep puddle, and an Amazon driver started down the road before stopping.
A resident leaving the neighborhood to turn onto Rockridge Road got out of his vehicle to yell at the Amazon employee, as a driver stopped behind the resident honked their horn.
“Here comes the angry neighbors,” White observed.
Power crews keep plugging
White’s power went out around the time of the tornado, though electricity had been restored by Saturday. But his septic tank and leech field were both underwater, making it impossible to flush toilets in his home. He had resorted to using plastic shopping bags to collect waste.
‘We can’t get no relief’: On Lake Bonny in Lakeland, Milton brings unprecedented flooding
White, 50, said he was worried about mold forming in his air conditioner. He had also had a health concern. After wading in the water for days, he showed a pattern of red blotches on his right ankle and foot.
Elsewhere in North Lakeland, signs announcing road closures remained installed on Deen Still Road and other streets, though the water had receded enough to allow passage in most places.
Utility workers from Texas and Oklahoma drove trucks into Ranchland Acres, a small subdivision branching off Rockridge road to the west. A unit stopped near a submerged section of Ranchland Trail to survey a damaged power pole.
A worker said the crew needed to disconnect power before they could repair the pole and replace downed power lines.
Jamie Flores drove past the utility crew on her way toward Rockridge Road. A resident for six years, she said the neighborhood had never seen such flooding.
“It’s getting better,” she said. “At least it’s passable now. At least we had power last night, and then we lost it again this morning, but I can see they’re working on it. But, yeah, we’re fortunate out here compared to what I’ve seen. It’s not pretty, but we’ll live through it.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Water slowly recedes in Rockridge area after Milton’s drenching
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