Elsa’s trail leaves several SWFL neighborhoods underwater

Author: WINK NEWS
Published: Updated:
Rains from Tropical Storm Elsa overnight left Tropicana Parkway East in Cape Coral looking like a lake. (Credit: WINK News)

Southwest Florida dealt with some heavy rains overnight as Elsa high-tailed it to the northern Gulf Coast. Some areas received enough rain to leave busy roads impassable, especially in Cape Coral.

The list of roads to avoid was so long that Cape Coral police said on Facebook it would be quicker to “just say ‘everywhere’.” They told drivers to stay home if they didn’t need to go out.

“I had never seen a river between two houses,” said Paul, a Cape Coral resident.

But that’s exactly what Elsa left behind just off Tropicana Parkway East.

“Well, I want to go out for breakfast…and no…no breakfast today for me,” he said.

No breakfast for Paul, and no driving for his neighbor, Rosemary Eisenbach.

“It’s flooded; this street’s the worst, but not this bad,” she said.

What’s more, every time a car drove past her home, water was pushed closer to home and car.

“I’m sure there’s water in it [the car],” Eisenbach said.

She was right. WINK News waded through the water to check inside her car and found two inches at least.

There are still some small areas of flooding in north Cape Coral. A Porta Potty was seen floating near a home under construction.

– Sydney Persing reporting from Cape Coral

Here was the list of roads that CCPD told people to avoid Wednesday morning:

  • Diplomat Parkway (essentially all of it)
  • Trafalgar Parkway (all of it)
  • Tropicana Parkway (100 block east)
  • Santa Barbara Blvd (Diplomat to Pine Island Rd)
  • Nicholas Parkway (both west/east of Santa Barbara)
  • Hancock Bridge Pkwy (from Santa Barbara to
    Cultural Park Blvd)
  • Cape Coral Pkwy West (right lanes of both east/
    westbound)
  • 3400 and 4400 blocks of Skyline Blvd
  • SW 32nd Street (1700 to 2000 block)
  • Chiquita Blvd & SW 14th Terrace
  • 200 block of SE 10th Terrace
  • 400 block of SW 7th Court
  • SE 9th Avenue (near Post Office)
  • The Crossings complex (1100 Hancock Creek South
    Blvd)
  • Beach Parkway West & SW 17th Avenue
  • Embers Pkwy & Burnt Store Road

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