CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – With Tropical Depression Fred on the way, many Citrus County residents are concerned for a variety of reasons. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for parts of the county on Thursday morning for the areas north of State Road 44, south of State Road 200 and east of State Road 41.
Desiree Brainerd’s property is in the bullseye of that flood warning, and her backyard is already underwater.
“My driveway out there, I have a driveway entrance off of 44, It’s underwater,” said Brainerd. “I can’t even use my driveway. And I haven’t been, except for 30 days this year.”
Brainerd believes a Florida Department of Transportation drainage issue is causing the problem. That coupled with the constant rains have saturated her property. She worries additional rains associated with Fred could cause additional problems.
“It’s a big concern,” said Brainerd. “Because, I mean, four or five more inches of rain, there’s my garage. It’s wet all the way up to there.”
In Old Homosassa, flooding isn’t the main concern. Although, Rex Mullis says he’s seen a lot of rain in recent days.
“I’ve been here a little more than two years and this is the worst I’ve seen it since I’ve been here,” said Mullis. “Even when we had hurricanes and stuff.”
Mullis says with all of this rain, the mosquitos have been almost unbearable.
“The mosquitos are worse than anything else. It doesn’t have a chance to dry out,” said Mullis. “The mosquitos, you see them flying around, they are just crazy right now.”
Paul Larson lives in the same area. His house is high and dry, but is concerned with possible wind and tree damage usually associated with tropical events.
“What happens is the ground gets saturated,” said Larson. “You see these big trees? They come down when the wind blows.”