Flood warning issued for Pasco, Hernando County areas near the Withlacoochee River

LACOOCHEE, Fla. (WFLA) — The National Weather Service issued a flood warning just past midnight on Thursday for areas along the Withlacoochee River near the Pasco-Hernando County line.

This comes after Hurricane Debby added more water onto a region already saturated with rain from the past couple months.

Minor flood stage for the Withlacoochee River near US 301 and Trilby Road is 12 feet, and water levels on Thursday morning stayed consistently between 12 and 12.1 feet. The river is forecasted to crest at about 12.2 feet through Monday, though it could go higher than that.

The high water levels impacted low lying and vulnerable areas near the river, covering local roads and isolating some homes.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at 12 feet, flooding begins in Lacoochee, Talisman Estates, Riverdale and River Height Estates.

The river’s water levels have slowly risen over the summer with more rain. In July, the river was very shallow, at less than a foot deep, to about three feet by the end of the month. Once Hurricane Debby hit Florida on August 3, the river started rising even more rapidly.

Minor flooding stage can cause minimal to no property damage, but possibly some public threat, according to NOAA.

If the river rose to 14 feet, River Road East of the river would flood, several campsites would flood, Peterson Park would flood and close, several homes would be isolated and some businesses would flood.

The record flooding for the river around US 301 is 20 feet, with the most recent crest in 2017 (around Hurricanes Irma and Maria) at nearly 18 feet. At that point, water would start to approach US 301.

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