Flooding in Tallahassee
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Flooding in Tallahassee generally occurs along four waterways: the West Drainage Ditch, the Central Drainage Ditch, the East Drainage Ditch, and the Northeast Drainage Ditch. The volume of runoff in certain areas exceeds the capacity of these channels, during heavy storms, and floods adjacent structures and lands. The West Drainage Ditch floods areas in the vicinity of Springhill Road and Lake Bradford Road. Frequent flooding of the Northeast Drainage Ditch occurs near Centerville Road in the vicinity of Capital Circle NE, Doomar Drive, and Potts Road. The Central Drainage Ditch floods areas in the vicinity of Stadium Drive, Eppes Drive, and Pepper Drive. Flooding of the East Drainage Ditch occurs in the vicinity of Orange Avenue, Blair Stone Drive, and Fleetwood Street. Although the floodwaters are not very deep, they cover streets and yards and can flood garages, cars, basements, and lower floors. Flooding also occurs due to local drainage problems and in several closed basins in our City.
Flooding in all of these areas can come with little warning. Floodwaters of the St. Augustine Branch, a tributary of the Central Drainage Ditch, have been observed to leave its banks and flood Franklin Boulevard within one-half hour after a thunderstorm started. Flooding can be dangerous. Even though the floodwaters appear to be moving slowly, a flood two feet deep moving at three feet per second can knock people off their feet or float a car off the road.
If your property is in the floodplain, the odds are that someday your property will be damaged by flooding. Your property may be high enough that it has not flooded recently. However, it can still be flooded in the future because the next flood could be worse.