With all this rain - watch your step!

This past week we have had a tremendous amount of rain due to a nor’easter that sat just off the northeast coast of Florida.  It rained every day this week (Sunday through Saturday).  Our area and neighborhood has seen a fair bit of flooding as the ground has saturated and our retention ponds have filled nearly to the brim.  We’re fortunate however as folks south of us in the Ormond Beach and Daytona area have seen serious flooding, somewhat similar to the conditions they faced last summer during Tropical Storm Fay.(Rainfall accumulation totals.  Image borrowed from the Agricultural Emergency Report blog.) On Thursday Katie and I headed down to check out our local neighborhood boardwalk that stretches almost a mile through the salt marsh into the Intracoastal Waterway.  With all the rain flushing the creeks and east winds driving tides inland, our coastlines have been inundated beyond the typical high tide range.  The water at the boardwalk this week was nearly the same height as during Tropical Storm Fay last summer!  As we walked we looked carefully for critters that might have been displaced and on the move as the water rose… This water moccasin was swimming right next to the dock through the salt marsh.  We gave her plenty of space and watched from a distance as she swam up and disappeared underneath the boardwalk.  So watch your step out there after all this rain – critters are on the move looking for dry ground!