Storm chaser Mike Scantlin reports from Tarpon Springs, Florida, where life is returning to normal in the morning of Aug. 6, a day after Debby inundated the region with severe rain and flooding.
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00:00What happened in Florida yesterday?
00:02Boy, did we get a lot of heavy rain in the Tampa area.
00:05Yeah, there's still a very destructive
00:07and unfortunately deadly storm.
00:09We're joined right now by storm chaser, Mike Scantlin.
00:12He is live in Tarpon Springs,
00:14which he told us he would be traveling to,
00:15and he's a man of his word.
00:17Outside looks like maybe a local business there.
00:23That's right here.
00:24I'm along the Sponge Docks District of Tarpon Springs here.
00:27And you know, there was a couple of feet of water here.
00:29Some of these sandbagged areas,
00:31the water actually got up above the sandbags
00:33here in this district.
00:35Most of these shops are closed.
00:36Some of them are open.
00:37There are people cleaning up, sweeping out.
00:39I saw some leaf blowers over there
00:41being utilized to dry up some of the water.
00:44Actually, a street sweeper came by
00:45and almost took my tripod with him about two minutes ago.
00:48So, you know, cleanup is underway,
00:51but I'm having trouble finding lingering effects.
00:53I'm having trouble finding something to report on here.
00:55And if I'm in your town
00:56and I'm having trouble finding something to report on here,
00:59then that's good news here.
01:01Those lingering effects are even less lingering here.
01:05And there's city crews pulling up and cleaning up,
01:08picking up the high water sign here.
01:09They're going to take my high water sign right behind me.
01:11So, I mean, that's symbolic of moving past the storm
01:16and moving on with our lives here in the Tampa Metro.
01:19Michael, you have that peninsula, the Florida,
01:24how you have Tampa, St. Petersburg.
01:27How that little area juts out in the Gulf of Mexico.
01:31And it always seems like storms coming in from the West
01:35always avoid Tampa.
01:37Either they go off to the South or go off to the North.
01:39So, once again, we had the heavy rain in Tampa,
01:41but overall they fared very well with this storm.
01:48Absolutely.
01:48And, you know, I've been here to cover many storms
01:50and it's always the same story.
01:52Everyone says, well, it's going to miss us.
01:53But, you know, you still get those low-lying areas.
01:55It's still a lot of heavy rain issues here
01:57and surge issues.
01:58But, you know, the wind issues definitely have stayed North
02:01and this storm especially.
02:04And, you know, it seems to be,
02:06it's just going to be another day here in Tarpon Springs.
02:08Once they get these high water signs out of here,
02:10there'll be no sign of it.
02:12Well, then what's on tap for the rest of your day, Mike?
02:17That's a great question.
02:18I mean, I got to find something to report on.
02:20I got another live hit at noon and I, you know,
02:23I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel hill.
02:24And that's really good news here for the area.
02:26So I'll take it.
02:28We believe in you.
02:29He'll find something.
02:30He'll find something to report on.
02:31If there's something bad, Mike will find it.
02:33Yes.
02:34All right.
02:35Keep an eye on it again.
02:36Luckily again, Tampa escaped the worst.
02:38Now, there was some problems with flooding
02:40and we had problems on roadways,
02:42but at least for now,
02:43everything's cleaning up pretty easily.