Hurricane waters overloading Florida's drainage system

After six weeks, in which four hurricanes have pounded the entire state of Florida, the system of canals, levies and man-made marshes that protects homeowners from Central Florida to the Keys is close to reaching its maximum capacity.

Officials at the South Florida Water Management District continue to assess the fallout from Hurricane Jeanne while keeping an alert eye on Lake Okeechobee.

The 730-square-mile lake collects most of its water from rainfall and the tributaries of the Kissimmee River Valley. Jeanne filled the upper Kissimmee chain of lakes with between 6 inches and 8 inches of rain — one reading came in at 17 inches — which eventually will have to flow south.

An aerial survey showed that Lake Kissimmee had reached the highest level in years.

Downstream, Lake Okeechobee stood at about 16.2 feet on Monday, perilously close to the 17-foot limit engineers say is the maximum pressure they will allow on an aging series of dikes that protect the tiny towns and neighborhoods near its shores. An exact reading was difficult to get on Monday because the lake was still sloshing from the storm.

"We consider this stage very critical," said district spokeswoman Jo Ann Hyres.

All of the water won't flow into the lake for another two or three weeks, said Bob Howard, the district's director of operations. For the next several days at least, releases from the lake won't be possible because the canals that drain the lake are too swollen from the storm, Hyres said.

Working in the district's favor is a forecast that calls for relatively dry conditions for the next several days.

Emergency crews were still tallying the damage to the handful of field stations and service centers in the district's 16-county domain, from Orlando to Key West, that took a direct hit from Jeanne.

Water management district technicians were working with their counterparts in local drainage districts to route water around swollen canals to ease some of the flooding.

"We're full, I don't want to give anyone that wrong impression," she said. "But we don't have any serious problems."

Source: The Palm Beach Post