HIGH WATER: RIVER SWELLS INTO NEIGHBORHOODS ; RAINS FLOOD MYAKKA RIVER RAINWATER IN NORTHERN COUNTIES FLOWS SOUTH TO CAUSE THE RIVER TO SPREAD OVER SURROUNDING LAND.(LOCAL/STATE)

Byline: Stephen G. Reed and Greg Retsinas STAFF WRITERS

When Scott Proper went to sleep late Sunday evening, he parked his van on the roadside in front of his waterfront home.

When he awoke the next morning, he needed a canoe to get to it.

Swollen with runoff from last week's heavy rains, the Myakka River continued to rise Sunday and Monday, and was expected to crest in Proper's South Moon Drive neighborhood Monday night. In parts of south Sarasota County, the river rose one inch per hour, forcing residents to elevate their belongings and consider temporary evacuation.

For families like the Propers, whose house east of Venice is a few feet away from the riverbank, the flooding was only a mild surprise.

"I didn't suspect it to …