Under Water
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121659)
Gainesville, Florida
September 24, 2017 8:16pm CST
In the photo above is a suspension foot bridge over one of our local rivers, the Santa Fe. The bridge sits about 15 feet above the river.
Due to the deluge of rain we received from Hurricane Irma, excessive flooding occurred in many areas of Florida, and our area was no exception. The Santa Fe crested about 20 feet over its normal levels, setting the all-time record for flooding.
It may be hard to believe, but that bridge in the photo was about 5 feet under water at the height of the flooding!
The river levels have since subsided, but the area where this photo was taken is still off limits due to the floods.
And interestingly, even though the river levels continue to subside and return to normal levels, our lake levels continue to rise as the water from all over the area continues to make its way into the subterranean aquifer.
My son and I spent the day checking out various areas around the outskirts of our city to view firsthand the flooding that resulted from the hurricane two weeks ago.
35 people like this
32 responses
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Sep 17
Yes, during normal circumstances, people can swim where the dock is. However, it's not much of a swimming area, as there are lots of protruding rocks. It's actually used more by kayakers and cancers than it is by swimmers.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Sep 17
@just4him Haha, yes...I meant to say canoes! Sometimes I don't take the time to proof my comments before I hit the send button! lol
2 people like this
@just4him (317249)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
26 Sep 17
@moffittjc Do you mean 'cancers' in your comment? I'm thinking maybe canoes?
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@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
25 Sep 17
Doesn't look like the bridge or dock sustained damage from the flooding.
3 people like this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
25 Sep 17
@moffittjc I hope that you can get to it and get some pics to share. How long do they estimate before things are back to normal?
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
That picture was taken the weekend before the hurricane hit. We can't get in there right now to see what the bridge looks like now since most of the area is still flooded. I'm sure there is a lot of damage, but that bridge has been standing since the early 1930s, so I think it will come through this round of flooding relatively unscathed!
4 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
@ElusiveButterfly It could be months before this one particular spot re-opens. Just downstream from this bridge the river disappears into the earth and goes underground for about three miles before it resurfaces and continues its journey. Because of all the flooding, the underground aquifer levels have risen substantially, meaning there isn't a whole lot of room for the water in the river to go when it disappears underground. So, unfortunately, the receding flood waters will take a long time in this particular area.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
If we were near the ocean, it would go back down quickly, because it would have an ocean to drain to. Our rivers don't have a quick dumping point, so it takes a while for the floodwaters to recede. Eventually, all that water will make its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Sep 17
Hurricane Irma unleashed torrential rains during its journey up the center of Florida. On top of that, we had already had a record rainy season, so the water levels were already high.
2 people like this
@YrNemo (20255)
•
25 Sep 17
Do alligators get into that lake? Take care. (Someone told me before that in Florida, wherever one sees water, one is likely to see alligators there. Frightened the hell out of me, since I visited that state of yours for a week in the past (some resorts!). Saw nothing that time thanks be to God!)
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
There are alligators in the Santa Fe River, and in all the lakes. It is true that if you see a body of water in Florida, then there is an alligator nearby!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
There has been flooding all over, but so far everything seems good. Many houses along rivers and lakes received some damage from flooding, but overall it hasn't been as bad as it could have been. We were very well prepared for this hurricane.
2 people like this
@vsai2008 (11796)
• India
25 Sep 17
@moffittjc I am happy that you all were prepared for it, that really helps a great deal in minimising the damage
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@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
25 Sep 17
I could already imagine the strength of the current.
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@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
25 Sep 17
@moffittjc oh i see, so it rose 20 feet with no current just very high deph that's slowly moving till it subsides.
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@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
@louievill Yes. The reason the water level rose so high is because all that water had nowhere to go!
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@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
There actually is very little to no current at this point of the river. Just downstream from the bridge in the picture, the river disappears underground and flows for 5 kilometers before resurfacing and continuing its journey to the ocean.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
25 Sep 17
Hopefully the bridge didn't get too damaged being underwater like that. There have been times when the river here nearly reached the bridge, but never went over it, at least not in my lifetime (the old bridge was underwater when it flooded in the 1950s.) It's scary when the water gets that high!
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
25 Sep 17
@moffittjc Our river bottoms were tore up after the high water levels this past winter. A lot of trees got uprooted and tore up the landscape. Hopefully the campgrounds there won't be too damaged! It's crazy how high water levels can change the landscape so drastically.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
@Srbageldog That's what worries me most, the damage it will do to all the trees, especially if it takes a long while for all the floodwaters to recede. I don't know if it will end up killing most or all of the trees in the area due to them being submerged for many weeks at a time.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
Since it really doesn't flood that often, it is hard for me to even fathom what it looks like now with the river at record levels. Adjacent to that foot bridge is a campground in a state park, and my son and I have reservations to camp there for a couple of days in mid October, less than a month from now. It will be interesting to see how much the landscape has changed in the campground once the flood waters recede.
2 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
25 Sep 17
I wonder if the alligators had fun meandering across it whilst it was submerged.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Sep 17
@Poppylicious I'm sure all the alligators and snakes are loving life right now with all this water everywhere! It must be like heaven to them!
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
I'm sure plenty of alligators have meandered across it! At another nearby park, they had a very large alligator get stuck in the railing of a boardwalk that wound through a swampy area, so wildlife officials had to go out in boats to where the alligator was stuck so they could free it.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Sep 17
Yes, Irma is not going to go away quietly in the night...
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
25 Sep 17
Hard to believe that it's been two weeks already.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
I know, It still feels like it was yesterday when the hurricane struck!
2 people like this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
25 Sep 17
Nature's destruction is terrible. Hope things are fast returning to normal
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Sep 17
I hope so too. The area where that picture was taken is one of my favorite areas. It's where I go to get away from the struggles of life.
@peachpurple (13961)
• Malaysia
25 Sep 17
didn't the bridge break loose during the hurricane?
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
No, it's still there. That bridge was built back in the 1930s, so it has withstood the test of time.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
@peachpurple It's a suspension bridge, so that cables that are holding it up are anchored in bedrock, so I think that it will be just fine after the water level goes down.
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@peachpurple (13961)
• Malaysia
25 Sep 17
@moffittjc wow, old bridge is still solid as a rock.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
This picture was taken just before the hurricane hit. I haven't been able to get into the area yet to take a picture of what it looks like now, because the whole area is still flooded and off limits.
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@snowy22315 (181961)
• United States
25 Sep 17
That is truly amazing! I bet it has left a real mess in it's wake.
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@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Sep 17
We won't know the full extent of the flood damage until the water finally recedes in a few weeks. I just hope it doesn't mess up the landscape too much.
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
Whether we build high or low, we're still at the mercy of mother nature!
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@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
Yes, my home was safe from not only the winds of the hurricane, but from the floods as well. My house is high and dry right now, and all my trees are still standing. I had no damage at all from the hurricane.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
We have a highway that runs through a prairie south of our city, and it has only been closed once in its 80 year history, and they are about to close it again due to flooding. The water in the prairie continues to rise a few inches a day, and the water is already flooding some of the outside lanes of the highway. They estimate that by week's end the highway will be under water and will have to be closed. Pretty interesting considering the hurricane was two weeks ago!
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@andriaperry (117133)
• Anniston, Alabama
25 Sep 17
Nothing is ever the same after floods.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Sep 17
That is true! Flooding usually changes everything, including the landscape and the layout of the land.
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