Top Story - August: Sarasota man dies in flood-related crash

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By Observer Staff
| 4:30 p.m. December 28, 2017

A man driving over a flooded roadway drove his car into a drainage ditch, according to officials with the Sarasota Police Department. Officers were able to pull him from the water, but he later died on his way to the hospital.

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A traffic fatality reported Aug. 27 was directly connected to a weekend of heavy rains and flooding, Sarasota police said.

Sarasota resident James J. Kitchell, 73, was leaving the Sarasota Kennel Club on the afternoon of Aug. 27 and apparently drove into deep water, said Sgt. Bruce King with the Traffic Unit at the Sarasota Police Department.

“It looks like he went around the barricade that was blocking the road,” King said. Officers arrived on scene to find the car submerged in a tributary to nearby Whitaker Bayou. Officers pulled the victim from the water to perform CPR.

The victim was transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he later died from his injuries, according to a release from the department. The cause of death was not immediately determined.

“In my 15 years here at the department I have not seen flooding like we’ve experienced over this weekend, ever,” King said in August. “I don’t know the last time we had a fatality related to flooding.”

The streets around U.S. 41 and Gulfstream Avenue were among those flooded this weekend.

Officials monitored the weather and road conditions as more heavy rain continued through Aug. 28. Storms diminished by the 29th.

A flood watch was issued as an area of low pressure over the area brought heavy rainfall of up to 3 to 6 inches. The rain was not connected to Hurricane Harvey, which resulted in severe flooding in Texas.

About 16 inches of rain were recorded at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport during a three-day stretch, including 8 inches on Aug. 26. Rainfall recorded at the airport on Aug. 26 and 27 broke records, according to data from the National Weather Service.

In the city of Sarasota, flooding was a problem at Ken Thompson Parkway near Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, according to Sarasota Emergency Manager Todd Kerkering. John Ringling Boulevard flooded as well.

Kerkering said during the storms that only one home had been reported flooded, on 23rd Street. The city worked with the Red Cross to help the home's resident, who was being taken to a shelter that was opened up in Bradenton for Manatee County residents.

Several parks and beaches closed throughout Sarasota County as a result of the rain, including Ted Sperling Park at South Lido and all county athletic fields. The Sarasota Police Department also asked people to avoid driving through Lido Key and St. Armands Key, which experienced heavy flooding, as well as U.S. 41 and Gulfstream.