Flooding creating headaches in Citrus County

HOMOSASSA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Citrus County, on the Gulf Coast, is prepping for Tropical Storm Hermine.  

Late Wednesday, we found areas already flooding, before Hermine even makes landfall.  We found locals wading in the parking lot of a very popular riverside restaurant and the now closed McCrae's Boat Ramp on the Homosassa River in Homasassa in Citrus County.

Locals tell us they are worried about additional flooding.  Several boat ramps, and more than a dozen other county parks and beaches, as well as the county landfill, closed at 3:30 p.m. and will remain closed until the storm passes.

Cynthia Oswald, the Public Information Officer for Citrus County says, "We have to be ready.  We live on the Gulf Coast so we have to be prepared."

The biggest worry is the storm surge at high tide:  a recipe Oswald says for flooding even on local roads like the heavily traveled State Road 19.

She says, "We've already delivered 20-000 sandbags to residents, means our residents are preparing for storm."

Residents like Joe Alexander...are already seeing some impact.   He says, "We have friends on the river who have water coming up past the seawalls.  We need sandbags to keep water out of houses."