Hanna, Ike, Josephine

Normally, all eyes would be on Tropical Storm Hanna, which will likely sideswipe Highlands County with moderate winds and 2 to 4 inches of rain. However, tropical storms Ike and Josephine are right behind her.

Officials like Southwest Florida Water Management District spokeswoman Robyn Felix are not even sure about Hanna, because the remnants of Hurricane Gustav kept Hanna from moving forward Tuesday. She said the district was not about to rush the water out of Lake June until Gustav dissipated.

"It's affecting Hanna," she explained. "Once Gustav starts to clear, we'll have a better idea of what Hanna's going to do."

Jennifer Colson from the National Weather Service in Ruskin expected Hanna to bring heavy rainfalls to Highlands County, even though it will only be a fraction of the rain Tropical Storm Fay dumped two weeks ago. Tropical storm-force gusts greater than 39 mph are likely, but unless Hanna's trajectory changes, we won't feel the brunt of the storm.

But what about Ike and Josephine? Colson said it's way too soon to tell what they could do to Florida.

Highlands County Assistant Lakes Manager Erin McCarta was also focusing only on Hanna. She mentioned Jack Creek, which was flooded after Fay dumped six to eight inches over the county. Those waters subsided late last week.

"It's just kind of an up and down situation," she said.

She added that the South Florida Water Management District was trying to let water out of Lake Istokpoga ahead of Hanna. Its surface level was 38.37 feet Tuesday afternoon.

McCarta and Lakes Manager Clell Ford previously told Highlands Today that they needed to clean parts of the creek that were clogged with overgrown weeds and other debris, slowing the flow from Lake June and worsening Jack Creek's flooding.

SFWMD spokeswoman Vicky Nowlan said that several parts of the county are still recovering from Fay, especially Istokpoga and the Kissimmee River, which are still being drained. The banks of the lower Kissimmee River overflowed after that storm, leaving Kissimmee River Estates in more than 2 feet of water.

Arbuckle Creek was still "quite high" this weekend. She wasn't sure, however, if the 2 to 4 inches of water predicted from Hanna would cause any part of the county to flood again.

"We're making the releases and we're sending the water down as fast as we can," Nowlan said.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service predicted that Hanna could run up Florida's east coast as a hurricane late Thursday and Friday morning before making landfall in South Carolina. Ike is projected to become a hurricane before reaching the Bahamas Saturday, while Josephine is too far east to impact any land by Sunday.