DeSantis Declares an Emergency in Seven Counties as 16 to 22 Inches of Rain Flood East-Central Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for seven Florida counties on Monday as torrential rain flooded east-central Florida - 34 counties sat under flood watches or warnings, the National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Emergency for parts of Brevard County, gauges showed 16 to 22 inches of rain in the south of the county, and schools closed in three counties.
Florida's Election Day eve arrived with a flood emergency on its east-central coast. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for seven counties - Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie - as 34 counties across the state sat under flood watches or warnings on Monday, the Palm Beach Post, Fox Weather, Florida Today and Florida's Morning News Network reported in November 2 files read by the Florida Desk this run. Palm Beach County, where this desk is covering the separate Learjet-crash emergency request, is not among the seven counties in the governor's flooding declaration, the reports said.
The worst of the water is in Brevard County. The National Weather Service in Melbourne issued a Flash Flood Emergency for West Melbourne and Palm Bay, later extended toward Grant-Valkaria, and gauges showed 16 to 22 inches of rain in south Brevard by mid-afternoon; Fox Weather cited radar estimates of 18 to 20 inches in 12 hours south of Palm Bay, a rainfall total it described as a 1,000-year event under NOAA's threshold. Port Malabar Road washed out and Turkey Creek overflowed in the Palm Bay area, the reports said.
Schools are part of the emergency's calendar: Brevard, Glades and Hardee counties closed schools on Monday, Brevard and Hardee will also be closed Tuesday, and DeSoto County schools are closed Tuesday and Wednesday, the Post reported. A flood watch for east-central Florida runs through Tuesday morning.
No flood deaths had been reported as of Monday afternoon, the reports said - a line this story prints exactly as sourced and will update if officials say otherwise. Jacksonville and Duval County are not in the emergency area; the First Coast's own Election Day forecast is in the Weather Desk's evening file (SQ-20261102-062).
