More than 500 people rescued from flooded apartment complex outside Clearwater evacuation zone
More than 500 people were rescued from an apartment complex in a no-evacuation zone in Clearwater overnight after Milton caused major flooding in the city, its mayor told CNN.
Some of those rescued were in chest- and neck-deep floodwaters, according to Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector. First responders were already receiving 911 calls after the hurricane arrived, but the winds were too dangerous for them to respond, the mayor said.
“They arrived as soon as they could to protect their own safety,” he told CNN. Rector said the city “did a really good job” of getting people out of evacuation zones, but pointed out that the flooded apartment complex was in an area that had not been ordered to evacuate. ‘evacuate.
“These people weren’t expecting this, but the rain came so hard, so fast that it completely flooded this apartment complex,” he said. The next challenge will be finding shelter for residents who have been displaced from the complex, the mayor said.
