REDINGTON BEACH, Fla. — A Pinellas County family displaced by Tropical Storm Eta says damaging floods are a familiarity they’d like to forget.
Tropical Storm Eta dumped seven inches of rain on communities along the Pinellas County coastline.
Several inches of water rushed inside Fernando Vidal’s home in Redington Beach.
“I was worried, I was scared,” said Vidal. “I was afraid for our family.”
ABC Action News first met Vidal Wednesday night as he and his family huddled together under a shopping plaza along Gulf Blvd.
Fernando Vidal, his wife, and kids grabbed whatever they could tonight as several feet of water filled their Madeira Beach home. Sadly, this isn’t the first time flooding forced them from home. The Vidal’s place in Houston flooded during Harvey. @abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/WxOS6dcfyV
— Ryan Smith (@RyanReports) November 12, 2020
The fire department was called to rescue the family of five from their flooded home.
“Grabbed what was important, like medical supplies for our son and our animals, and tried to get out," Vidal said.
Wednesday night’s storm wasn’t the first time flooding forced Fernando and his family out of their home.
Hurricane Harvey destroyed the family’s first home in Katy, Texas, three years ago.
“I have pictures of our streets, water up to the stop signs,” said Vidal. “Ever since Harvey, we’ve had that instance of PTSD from just flooding of water.”
From one state to the next, Vidal’s family is once again trying to figure out how to recover.
“Lives can’t be replaced,” said Vidal. “Our stuff, it’s just stuff. Ultimately we can buy new stuff.”
