Cars stuck, trash cans drift on road amid widespread flooding in San Marco

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – At least six cars were stranded on Wednesday morning, and a garbage can was spotted floating on the road after heavy rains hit the San Marco area.

Between 5 and 10 centimetres of rain fell in the area in 12 hours.

Nearby, flooding was also reported on the Philips Highway near Bowden Road, leaving one car stranded.

Water on the roads has become a traffic nightmare in the area, with some roads becoming impassable.

Betty Brown had to escape from her flooded car, which was submerged in thigh-deep water, in the medical district.

“I pull off the street right here and pull over, and it looks like there’s about this much water on the road. And as we pulled up, the water just shot out on us and just pushed the car back and we were rocking back and forth like that,” she told News4JAX. “And then the car just stopped moving. And then all of a sudden it stopped moving backwards, and it was going steadily backwards, and then it stopped right in the middle of the road. We had to climb up, we actually had to get out of the car because when we opened the door, the water started pouring in.”

The car wouldn’t start and the grandson eventually had to push it off the road.

Nettie Sams said her car was in the shop because of flooding.

“It may need a new engine. It happened this morning. I saw cars stuck on the side of the road, under water, in grassy areas, trying to get out of the water, and they were just stuck,” Sams said.

About a half-dozen other cars were damaged in the area around MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Around the corner on San Marco Boulevard, standing water stood for hours as JSO stood guard and crews pumped water from LaSalle Street.

A flash flood warning was issued for the cities of San Marco, Riverside and downtown Jacksonville during the morning hours.

Tracy Elliot and her daughter Willamina were looking for something to eat late in the afternoon and ran into trouble due to store closures.

“We needed some Crumbl cookies and some Poke Bowl. That’s what made us come here. We ventured out and at the last minute we were closed. Businesses are closing because of the flash flooding,” Elliot said.

Elliot and her daughter’s walk through the floodwaters was met with some trepidation.

“We thought we were going to come across a water moccasin and were afraid the water would get down our pants,” Elliot said.

“I’m afraid of snakes and spiders. I was terrified,” Willamina said.