Historic rain from Debby tapers off, but flooding displaces many in Sarasota, Manatee

North Port anticipates canal system will handle incoming water as the Myakka River Basin drains

Rainfall from Hurricane Debby continued to impact local rivers and creeks, with both the Myakka and Manatee rivers above flood stage, and residents in communities from Parrish to portions of Lakewood Ranch in East Manatee County to Pinecraft in Sarasota County's Phillippi Creek watershed anxiously waiting for the water to recede.

Tony Hurt, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Ruskin, said a few rain bands from Debby, now a tropical storm again, were still pushing across the area, though, he added, “the rain bands are pretty sparse today.”

After that, the weather pattern is expected to settle into a more typical summer pattern, with showers and thunderstorms early in the day, with the usual August rainfall totals.

Still the amount of rainfall Sarasota-Manatee received from Debby is equivalent to the volume generated by a 50- to 100-year storm NWS Forecaster Keily Delerme said Tuesday afternoon.

Because of the current flooding status even typical August rainfall totals could still exacerbate problems in vulnerable river basins.