Hernando County officials issued a voluntary evacuation order to residents living along the Withlacoochee River Thursday afternoon. The order affects around 4,665 people and 1,960 homes.
- Riverdale neighborhood, Peterson Park closed
- River at Trilby expected to rise to 17 feet by Sept. 18
- County has already rescued one resident, one dog from flood waters
People living in the Riverdale neighborhood off of Highway 98 said they’ve seen the river rising since last week. Hernando County officials said Riverdale trailers are flooded, and Peterson Park is flooded and closed.
The Enrichment Center, located at 800 John Gary Grubbs Blvd in Brooksville opened its doors to those seeking shelter. The county urged people to seek shelter with friends or family first.
Riverdale resident Diana Karan said she’s staying put, however, and plans to only leave her house for food, since the area still doesn’t have electricity. Her home is surrounded by the flood waters, but sits on stilts, so she hopes flood waters won’t impact her too much.
"It goes up, it goes down, and you just hope for the best," Karan said. "And so far I've been lucky.”
Karan's neighbors, Johnnie and Vickie Smith, said they’re packing everything up and putting it into storage.
"We've got 40 years of our marriage in the house there," said Johnnie. "You know, all that furniture you've collected, some of it you really like, like personal things. What do you do?”
The river at Trilby is 15.3 feet now, but it’s expected to rise to 17 feet by Monday. Johnnie is expecting the worst.
“With the flood waters coming, it's probably going to tear up more than the hurricane,” Johnnie said.
Hernando County officials said they've already rescued one resident and their dog.