75 Rescued From Floods, Shore Acres Home Burns: Hurricane Idalia

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Flooding caused by Hurricane Idalia, which passed by the area as a Category 2 storm Wednesday, has kept first responders busy in St. Petersburg.

More than 75 people were rescued from high-flood areas by St. Petersburg Fire Rescue crews as of Wednesday afternoon, the city wrote in a Facebook post. The rescue efforts will continue until flooding subsides.

Most city streets reopened to traffic other than those in Shore Acres and Snell Isle, where about 60 percent of the streets were still flooded around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, the St. Petersburg Police Department wrote on Facebook. Sections of 62nd Avenue North and 22nd Avenue North that are used to drive into those areas were under water.

• Also Read: Hurricane Idalia Latest: Damage, Outages, Reopenings In Florida

Residents driving elevated vehicles are allowed back on the island, though, police said. They must show proof that they live in those neighborhoods.

A Shore Acres home caught fire Wednesday afternoon. Because of flooding, firefighters accessed the blaze using “light marine boats,” St. Pete Fire Rescue wrote on Facebook.

The home’s resident, who was uninjured, was brought to dry land using one of the boats.

Because of “the challenging circumstances posed by the flooding,” specialized teams were deployed to battle the fire, the agency said.