Digital creator Camila Pérez, known on social media as CamilaTaste, documented in real-time the flooding that affected her neighborhood in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, over the past few hours, showing how the water rose from covering her ankles to reaching her knees in just a couple of hours.
"I don't know at what moment my house went from having a lake view to being inside the lake," said the creator in the Instagram video.
Camila reported that the lake in front of her property, which is usually several meters away from her fence, was less than one meter away at the peak of the flooding.
"Normally the lake is more than 25 meters from our fence, and now it's less than a meter away," he explained with visible concern, though without losing the humor that characterizes his tone.
The situation escalated when a neighbor reported seeing a snake swimming through the streets of the neighborhood. "Dora the Explorer has turned around and gone inside," Camila joked as she described her reaction.
The torrential rains also ruined the Halloween celebration in the days leading up to it. "We've had a relentless downpour for a few days now, and we couldn't even celebrate Halloween without ending up like drenched chickens," he said.
The creator decided not to send her children to class after waking up to the downpour. Her biggest concern at that moment was the garage: "What I see as most imminent is that our garage is going to flood," she warned.
Despite the severity of her situation, Camila clarified that her area was relatively less affected than the rest of the city thanks to the sewage system. "We are fortunate because we have sewage here, so it’s not as flooded. But the rest of the city is completely underwater," she noted.
"I can’t imagine how we’re going to wake up tomorrow if it keeps going like this all night," Camila concluded in the video, before adding with her signature humor, "If this keeps up, I’ll film the next vlog in a kayak!"
The episode occurs within a significant weather event that affected the east coast of Florida from October 31 to this Tuesday. A low-pressure system dropped between six and 10 inches of accumulated rain on the area known as Treasure Coast, which includes St. Lucie County.
The authorities in Port Saint Lucie closed multiple roads, including California Boulevard, Savona Boulevard, and Prima Vista Boulevard. In some areas, such as SW Cameo Boulevard, the water rose to the windows of standard vehicles.
Governor Ron DeSantis issued an emergency executive order for St. Lucie and six other counties in Florida, while the city declared its own local state of emergency.
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