SARASOTA, Fla. — Parts of Sarasota are struggling to dry out from 16 inches of rain dumped on them by Tropical Storm Debby.

On the east side of town in the Palmer Lake neighborhood, stalled out cars remain stuck in the high water.

“I was driving my wife to the hospital early Monday morning, and I didn’t realize the water was so high,” said Carlos Deolivia. “The water was coming in the car and my wife started to panic.”

Thankfully, the couple was OK and were able to be rescued an hour and a half later.

People are now getting around the neighborhood in kayaks and paddle boards.

“We put our three-year-old and our 10-year-old daughters on the kayak this morning and paddled out to my parents to pick them up,” said Savanah White.

Neighbors say the water is not receding very quickly, like Mark Hill, who has lived in the area for 12 years. He watched Hurricane Ian from his back porch and said it was nothing compared to Debby.  

“I’ve never seen flooding like this. And what worries me is there’s nowhere for the water to go and it’s just standing still water,” said Hill.

The good news for the Palmer Lake neighborhood is the houses are built up higher and most do not have water inside. However, further to the east, the Laurel Meadows neighborhood does have flooded homes.

State Senator Joe Gruters was touring the area and said that most people here do not have flood insurance. 

“This is not an area that floods. It has never happened like this before,” Gruters said. “I want to see what the state can do to help people who do not have coverage for this type of damage.”