Two Rescued After Flood Waters Isolate Cantonment Neighborhood (With Gallery)

September 5, 2018

Several Escambia County agencies rescued two residents of a Cantonment neighborhood cut off by rising flood waters Wednesday afternoon, including a resident that suffered a medical emergency.

Crews from Escambia Fire Rescue, the ECFR Special Operations team, Escambia EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office took part in the operation on Ashbury Lane off Highway 297A. There were 14 homes isolated by water across Ashbury Lane.

For a photo gallery, click here.

ECFR Special Ops launched an inflatable raft, and the Sheriff’s Office used their high water rescue vehicle to cross into the neighborhood. The flood waters were estimated to be six-feet deep.

Escambia County Chief Deputy Chip Simmons and Maj. Andrew Hobbs responded with the high water vehicle.

“We responded when our high water vehicle was requested,” Hobbs said. “We took the high water vehicle across and transported two people back over.

The vehicle was also used to transport medication back to another resident isolated by the flood waters.

Officials went door to door offering assistance, but only one other resident decided to leave the neighborhood.

Gulf Power also assisted because a ground-level pad transformer was under the water crossing the road.

For a photo gallery, click here.

Courtesy and NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

Comments

10 Responses to “Two Rescued After Flood Waters Isolate Cantonment Neighborhood (With Gallery)”

  1. Resident on September 7th, 2018 11:19 am

    Jason – IP was cleared for negligence in maintaining their dam that failed in 2014. The source of the flooding was not ruled on (I was there for the flooding and the court ruling). That portion of the road floods from time to time. The case was not about that road, but about the up to 10 feet of water that surged into residents homes from the creek. Please know your facts before posting.

  2. Robinhood on September 7th, 2018 10:09 am

    Howie is correct, I too have lived here for over 55 years and that area has always been a swamp. Not sure why anyone would purchase a home built on top of or around a swamp. For those people who purchased a house in that area and not doing their research before buying are not too smart either.

  3. Bristol Park resident on September 6th, 2018 6:22 pm

    Yes JoAnn it has flooded before and each time IP’s dam was behind it. The first time was when they opened the gates to release the pressure on the dam so it would not fail. The second time they could not open the gate because they had stopped maintaining the dam which by the way was never properly permitted. So again if you don’t know all the facts don’t make comments Unless you have all the facts and have been educated on the whole chain of evidence.

  4. JoAnn on September 6th, 2018 10:28 am

    Jason, you aren’t misunderstanding at all. In fact, that area has flooded more than once in the past. Yes, Champion has something to do with it. BUT, here’s a general rule: If you live in a hole, chances are there are consequences for that. If you buy, make sure it’s not in between two hills, because water runs downward. Sort of like the “build on sand” rule of thumb. However, District 5 HAS long been been ignored by the planners of this county. Until NFCU woke them up and they were not ready for that influx. The NFCU Parkway, a/k/a Beulah Beltway, has demanded roads to get their people to work easier and quicker, hundreds of homes for their employees to live in close to work, hundreds have have gone up from Mobile Highway north. And hundreds more are in the planning stage. Where is all this water going to go? And in the process of solving that problem, the only way to go is north. AND, the north end still has the same problems as before, only they are going to increase 10 fold in the near future. We have the most wooden bridges, the most sub-par bridges (ESPECIALLY QUINTETTE – PROBABLY THE HIGHEST OFFENDER ON THE LIST) Yep, there’s a list. Get it from DOT website, it’s scary. Right now there’s one that is closed with no future date of repair (on a dirt road, another of which we have the most of) and one that has collapsed 2 times while under construction and not finished yet, after a year. I’m thinking maybe because the builder isn’t “all that”(and whose office is in a residence down in south Florida according to our illustrious local news station) So, no, Jason, you are not completely off – although it appears that they aren’t teaching the laws of physics in our education system when people can’t figure out that rain runs downward. Oh, and when we vote for Dist 5 representative next time, perhaps we need a very proactive one that doesn’t mind ruffling a few feathers for his/her District.

  5. Former Bristol park resident on September 6th, 2018 10:18 am

    I agree. The amount of water we experienced in 2014 was much greater than this and came “flooding” into the neighborhood much quicker than it could rain. There is no doubt a massive amount of water was let out to cause such devastation. As you can see, this time it didn’t reach the houses. Therefore, the theory that IP isn’t responsible just doesn’t jive.

  6. Howie on September 6th, 2018 9:19 am

    Residents of Bristol Park and Ashbury Hills – will flood again just like 2014. You are seeing a flooded street from 2 days of rain. Wait and see what happens after it has rained for a week. Live there long enough and you will find out. The water problem has not been COMPLETELY resolved. That area has always been a swamp for all the years I have lived just North of those subdivisions. That would be 85 years. That land should have never been granted permits to build on. But what does this County know about Engineering, Land and Development – NOTHING !

  7. Riv on September 6th, 2018 12:29 am

    Flooding from murder creek has been done this for years with 3Ft of Rain ask Brewton. 2 cent should take of it. Taxes

  8. Bristol Park resident on September 5th, 2018 9:09 pm

    Jason your comment is one of zero understanding of the flood of 2014. IP dam broke that caused a massive wall of water to come into the creek. There is a difference from a flooded street and people having 7 feet plus of water in their house. Get educated on all the facts before you make comments.

  9. Jason on September 5th, 2018 7:18 pm

    This area flooded in 2014 and many of the citizens in Bristol Park opted to sue International Paper alleging that an IP pond failed and flooded their property. After a trial, IP was cleared of wrong doing. Maybe now, these residents may actually see that “all this water” isnt coming from IP, but is run-off from all the subdivision that have cropped-up in the area over the past 6 years. All that run-off is now flowing into 11 mile creek, which is draining out behind their houses and is the actual cause of the flooding of their properties.

    Kudo’s to the County for obtaining “grant money” to purchase properties most prone to flooding in that area. Otherwise I think this may have been another horrible situation for more residents of Ashbury Hills and Bristol Park.

  10. Goodforall on September 5th, 2018 6:25 pm

    Kinda reminds me of Washington crossing the Delaware. Next thing ya know Chip will be president. Chip and Trump 2020.