Brevard's Flood Turns Emergency: Flash Flood Emergency to 11:45 A.M., U.S. 192 Closed in All Lanes
The Space Coast flood this station reported this morning has escalated: the National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for Brevard County until 11:45 a.m. Monday, flooding has closed all lanes of U.S. 192, and the closures have spread from the public schools to Florida Tech and Eastern Florida State College.
Brevard County's flood is now, in the National Weather Service's own term, an emergency. Florida Today reports the weather service declared a flash flood emergency for the area until 11:45 a.m. Monday - the most serious flood warning it issues - after a night that dropped 7.5 to 9 inches of rain county-wide and almost 12 inches in West Melbourne. No evacuation orders had been issued as the emergency ran.
The road map shows why. Per FL511, as reported by the Daytona Beach News-Journal, flooding has closed all lanes on U.S. 192 at Vine Street and Bronson Highway West, before Interstate 95 - the county's main east-west artery through Melbourne. In Palm Bay, police warned that Jupiter Boulevard and Garvey Road were heavily flooded, and Kennedy Space Center staff remained advised to work from home.
The shutdown list has grown past the school district. Brevard Public Schools closed all schools for Monday, and Florida Tech and Eastern Florida State College also cancelled. In Cocoa Beach, the city reduced trash pickup, closed recreational facilities and asked residents to conserve water so its overwhelmed wastewater system can keep up; Waste Management warns Brevard trash and recycling collection may be delayed. A flood watch runs through Monday evening for all of South Florida, with another 1 to 3 inches expected and up to 9 possible in isolated spots - for a county already holding a foot of water, the margin is the story.
