JEB! DECLARES POLK DISASTER AREA WHILE WAITING FOR KATRINA'S PASSING THROUGH

As I've mentioned here a time or two prior, it has been a very wet summer for some areas of southern Polk County. Several areas around Lake Wales and Frostproof have been suffering from severe flooding caused by record lake levels and extremely heavy rainfall the past couple of months. A number of residents have had to evacuate for the past couple of weeks after water entered their homes.

Jeb! finally declared Polk County a disaster area today because of the situation, following Monday's declaration by the County Commission of a state of emergency. And things could get worse this weekend. With Tropical Storm Katrina threatening to cross South Florida this weekend, Polk would experience the outer feeder bands which mean plenty of rain.

Those folks in South Polk certainly don't need any more grief. As I mentioned here yesterday, some of the homes that have been flooded have also been burglarized, with residents noting the thieves took whatever they could boat out...mostly small appliances.

Keep 'em in your thoughts and prayers.