Jefferson County residents are left without a home after a storm brought heavy flooding

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    A river with trees on the side of a road

    Schools, homes, and businesses across Florida’s Big Bend spent Thursday morning assessing the damage following Wednesday’s storm. In Jefferson County, the flooding left some people temporarily out of a home.

    “40, 50 roads had standing water, most of them were passable,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Mac McNeil. “I think we shut down a few roads for a couple of hours until the water abated and made its way back off the roads to where you can pass.”

    The Sheriff’s Office said the county received about 10 inches of rain Wednesday evening through Thursday morning, flooding roads throughout the county. The flood water also made its way into several homes.

    Sheriff McNeil told WFSU, he received a call Thursday morning around 4:30am from residents who needed to be rescued from their mobile homes. He said most of that water found its way in overnight.

    Sheriff Mac McNeill and Deputy Sheriff's began patrolling the roadways for obstructions, responding to reports of water/trees across roads and traffic accidents as the storm arrived and continued until all possible roads were clear. Deputies were dispatched to several homes for emergency rescue due to the flash flooding. Thursday, April 11, 2024 (JCSO Facebook)

    “It rose up on them,” said McNeil. “I guess they got up and felt water on their feet. The trailer themselves is already about 3-4 feet off the ground, the water had rose that much.”

    As of Thursday afternoon, 5 people had been rescued from their homes, with no reports of any casualties. The county’s water rescue team was still making trips around the area to ensure no one else needed help.

    Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office is keeping a close eye on Ward and Lloyd creek as the floodwater makes its way downstream.