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Sportsman’s Harbor in Welaka is seen in an aerial video taken by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office drone on Friday. Residents in the area have seen floodwaters recede, but roads and yards remained flooded in some areas on Monday. -
A sky view of the Dunn’s Creek area is captured by Putnam County Sheriff’s Office drone camera on Friday. -
While floodwaters had receded quite a bit, residents of Sportsman’s Harbor in Welaka still had to wade through water to get into their homes on Monday. -
A Welaka neighborhood remains flooded Monday, less than a week after Hurricane Ian brushed over Putnam County. -
Welaka Mayor Jamie Watts and Randy Harris, the operations manager for the Welaka wastewater treatment plant, discuss how much more water the plant has processed since Hurricane Ian drenched the area last week. -
Water is finally receding from a marina near Bryant’s Wharf in Welaka on Monday.
WELAKA — Susan and Mike Moody sat on their back porch Monday afternoon, chewing the fat with a family friend in their Welaka home on Sportsman Drive.
The pair, who decided to stay in their home with a view of the St. Johns River as Hurricane Ian made its way across the state, were cheerful Monday afternoon. Despite the fact that nearly their entire neighborhood had been underwater just days ago, the two had a sunny disposition.
“You’ve got to understand, OK? We grew up in South Florida – both of us,” said Mike Moody. “We’ve been together for over 50 years. We’ve been through (Hurricanes) Cleo, Donna. … Irma was worse than this.”
His wife, Susan, nodded in agreement, adding, “as far as the flooding goes.”
The Moodys said the floodwaters did not encroach on their living space. Some others in the area, according to a Putnam County Property Appraiser’s Office report, did not fare as well.
As of Monday, 124 properties in the area of Sportsman’s Harbor were affected by water damage from the storm, the data show. At least 51 homes were affected by water intrusion, while one home suffered major damage from flooding.
“The wind wasn’t really an issue,” said Welaka Mayor Jamie Watts as he toured the flooded area Monday afternoon. “It was just the water.
“Scott Street was completely underwater on Friday. You couldn’t see where the road was.”
There, he said, the floodwaters were about 1.5 feet deep.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, the St. Johns River was 3.36 feet over its usual height at its peak around 3 p.m. Friday. Putnam County Emergency Management Specialist Danelle Choate said the river’s level broke previous records set during Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
All that water equated to very busy Welaka public utilities and public works personnel – that includes three full-time public utilities employees and three full-time public works employees who are cross-trained for wastewater treatment, as well as the mayor, who was tagged with the additional title of public utilities director when he was elected to the post.
“We checked the pumps at the lift stations every hour during the storm,” Watts said. He pointed to a lift station just up the road from Sportsman Drive. “This is the one we had problems with.”
Watts likened it to a “four-way intersection.” He said the sewage from three parts of town flows into Lift Station 6 and out and across the street.
“They’re daisy-chained … so if you lose that lift station, then everything behind that lift station’s gonna back up,” he said.
Watts said the normal flow for their wastewater system is around 50,000 to 60,000 gallons per day, but right now, the plant is running more than 100,000 gallons per day.
“A whole lot of flow came through here,” Randy Harris, operations manager for the Welaka wastewater treatment plant, said as he walked the catwalk atop the plant facilities.
Watts pointed to a whiteboard in the office, where the storm flow was jotted down in purple dry-erase marker. Over the course of five days, the treatment facility cycled more than 471,000 gallons of water. That equates to nearly 4 million pounds of water through Welaka’s plant, which is expected to get an upgrade soon with grant funding from the state.
Of the lift stations and utilities connections, Watts said, “Nobody cares about them – until their toilet doesn’t flush anymore.”
Down on Sportsman Drive, an odor in the air suggested some sewage issues may have occurred. One of the Moodys’ neighbors, once the flood had receded from his property Monday, had sprayed down his entire driveway with chlorine.
As for the Moodys, their dog Walker and their cat Smokie, they are staying put.
They say it’s because of the community they’ve experienced in their five years in the neighborhood.
“This is a nice community,” said Susan Moody. “Throughout this thing, it’s just been one neighbor after the other helping each other. It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”