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Treasure Coast communities badly flooded from heavy rain

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Posted at 4:22 PM, Oct 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-02 18:10:53-04

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — From St. Lucie to Martin County, the Treasure Coast has been hit hard with heavy rain, flooding roads and homes.

And concern is growing with even more downpours in the forecast for the weekend.

In Fort Pierce, a school bus got stuck in floodwaters Friday morning and had to be pulled to safety.

And several homes in Hobe Sound near Gomez Ave and Bahama Circle were left damaged after more than 12 inches of rain fell in parts of Martin County over the past two days.

"We have so much flooding in the backyard that it’s actually coming in through the bottom of the house and flooding a couple of rooms in my house right now," said resident Olivia Burns.

Streets and sidewalks are submerged, and further north in Port Salerno cars have been forced to turn around.

"The water is coming up through the showers and going over the edge and flooding the house out," said resident Claude Myer.

Martin County Public Works says 11 emergency pumps have been set up across the county to provide some relief.

"Our public works department is out clearing drains and making sure water is flowing as best as it can," said Jim Gorton with Martin County Public Works.

Burns said her home also flooded in June and is concerned with more rain on the way.

"Correct the root cause of the problem, not just pump out water when it appears, but do some serious drainage work so this doesn’t continue to happen," Burns said.

Some pumps have been turned off so it doesn't cause more trouble for areas downstream.

People are being asked not to try and turn them on because it could damage them.

Martin County said crews will be out through the weekend.