Heavy rain caused flooding in parts of the Tampa Bay area last night, and with heavy showers and storms across the area, nearly the entire region remains under a flood watch.

The heaviest rains so far today have been in western Manatee County where thunderstorms dumped more than 1.5 inches of rain as of 4:30 p.m.

"Heavy rain and thunderstorms will be possible into the evening hours," said Bay News 9 meteorologist Diane Kacmarik. "But the rain will eventually end overnight."

Heavy rains also caused a couple roof collapses in the Bay area this weekend. Friday night, the roof to an apartment in Curlew collapsed, trapping a resident inside. In Pinellas County, an office building in the Icot Center in Largo experienced a roof collapse. The office building was evacuated as a precaution.

There are river flood warnings in effect for Hillsborough and Manatee counties. In Hillsborough, the warning is for the Alafia River at Lithia and the Little Manatee River at Wimauma. In Manatee, the warning is for the Manatee River at Rye Bridge and at Myakka State Park.

In these locations, minor flooding is either occurring or is forecast.

Among the areas hit hard last night: Plant City, where Trapnell Road was badly flooded between Mud Lake Road and James L. Redman Parkway. Flooding also was reported on Bayshore Boulevard and along Hesperdies and Lambright streets in Tampa.

In the Egypt Lake area in northwest Hillsborough County, several cars became stranded in high water, and at least one was sept into a ditch.

Power outages disrupted downtown St. Petersburg traffic and affected more than 3,000 Duke Energy customers in the Old Northeast neighborhood. The rain made for a soggy night of high school football around the region and put a damper on other outdoor events, including the Oktoberfest at the German American Club in Pinellas Park.

A tropical wave sweeping across Florida will keep today's rain chances high - about 70 percent, according to the Bay News 9 weather team.

"We noticed some showers this morning on the east coast of Florida," Linker said. "The rain on the east coast with this type of pattern is a strong indicator we're going to have a lot of coverage of showers and storms today."

Even though the the rainy season should be nearing an end, the rain chances will stay high for most of the coming week. The chances are 60 percent tomorrow and 50 percent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

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