CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Businesses at a Cape Coral plaza had to close Monday morning because of flooding. However, the flooding didn't enter through the front door.
It poured in from the roof and the Cape Coral Fire Department says a clogged gutter is the cause of the flooding. The plaza has 20 businesses off of Nicholas Parkway and Pine Island Road.
"It was just pouring in, it was almost a waterfall," said the general manager of Baldwin Brothers.
Shortly before 10 a.m., people called 911 saying the roof collapsed because ceiling tiles were falling. When the fire department got there and checked the roof, that's where they discovered it was not the roof.
"It’s just the power of the rain I guess," said Hunter Brown, a receptionist at Islandside Animal Hospital. "Our hospital’s flooding."
Other businesses had about an inch of water inside, like Gazoops Ice Cream, owned by Darren Hussien.
"I’ll put mats out. I’ll figure it out," he said. "You can only worry about what you can worry about."
The city's building inspector came to the plaza and checked, the inspector determined it was clogged gutters that caused the flooding.
"So all the units were affected in one way, shape or form because of water," said Cape Coral Fire Battalion Chief Ian Milliken. "It’s fairly rare. With the heavy rains and also we have still have roof damage from the hurricane, it is potentially more likely."
Clogged gutters is an issue Chuck Tabarracci, owner of Diamond Pressure Cleaning of SWFL, says they do come across.
"Now with the water coming in, it’s building up the gutter system," he explained. "It’s stopping up the downspouts with various items such as palm tree husks, pine needles, roofing materials or even plastic water bottles."
Since Ian, Tabarracci says they've been getting more calls because of debris from neighbors and around the area.
Having someone come out is a proactive, and something Tabarracci encourages all businesses owners and homeowners to do.
"All they need – once a year, once every six months is to have somebody go up, clean up all this debris, and take it out," he said.
Every business had to close Monday not only because of the flooding, but electricity. The water entered all the businesses in the back of the building, which is where the electrical panels are for each business.
They will have to be inspected individually before reopening.
"You know it’s life. Like I said, it could be worse," said Hussien said. "This is just a hutch and a giddy. We’ll get over it."
