Residents use Sea-Doos to get around flooded neighborhood - NBC12 - WWBT - Richmond, VA News On Your Side

Two days of rain has caused the Tchoutacabouffa River to rise as many as six feet above flood stage.

"I was freaking out," Riverwalk North Resident Nathan Tavai said.

Tavai said he looked out his window Wednesday morning and saw water covering the streets.

"It's been kind of crazy. I woke up at 7 for a final and saw the water was above our mailbox out in the front yard," Tavai said. "There was a Papa John's car that we saw that was completely flooded, so it's been pretty deep, pretty crazy."

Most of the residents have the drill down pat, take the Sea-Doo until it is too shallow, then wade in the water until you get to your car parked on higher ground. That trick saved Tavai from missing his final exam.

"We are relatively new," Tavai said. "We moved in about a year ago, but it has happened two or three times since we have lived here, so we are getting used to it."

"No, it's nothing I like, but it's where I live right now so I have to deal with it," said resident Vicky Amos.

Amos is also fairly new to the neighborhood, but it only took her getting stuck inside her house one time to learn.

"I was due to work, and I could not get there because my car was inside my garage," Amos said. "The flood does not come up the hill where I live, but you are stuck because you can't get out of your garage. Last night for preparation, when I heard on WLOX that it was going to rise the river was rising, I decided to move my car out."

Next, Amos said she will get a Sea-Doo or boat to get around like her neighbors do.

"I need to invest in it if I plan on staying here," Amos said.

Copyright 2014 WLOX. All rights reserved.