(CNN) More storms could hit South Florida on Friday after severe flooding damaged Fort Lauderdale and surrounding communities, closing schools and government buildings and sending hundreds of residents to emergency shelters. .
Many streets turned into lakes in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday and Thursday as historic amounts of rain in excess of 2 feet inundated the South Florida coastal city. The flooding closed Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which is expected to reopen Friday at 9 a.m., the airport said.
Surrounding areas were also lashed with more than a foot of rain, leading to flash flooding that stranded residents, made driving miserable for motorists and frustrated air travelers unable to leave the airport. .
Jeremy Ennis, who said he has worked in Fort Lauderdale for about 23 years, was stuck on a city street in his car Thursday as water levels remained high.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, ever,” Ennis told CNN. “I’ve never seen this amount of water, and I’ve seen (Hurricane) Katrina. I’ve seen more hurricanes.”
A flood warning remains in effect for Fort Lauderdale until 8 a.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service office in Miami.
“Historic rainfall has occurred in the Fort Lauderdale metro area over the past 36 hours. Despite heavy rain ending (Thursday) night, many roads remain closed due to flooding,” the flood warning said. – said.
Friday also brings the threat of possible thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon and early evening hours. The storms may bring heavy downpours to local areas, but they are not expected to be as severe as the walls of rain that battered the city this week.
Flooding remained at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Thursday.
Fort Lauderdale was hit by another round of rain Thursday night that worsened flooding conditions, city officials said.
“Roads that were passable earlier today are now flooded again. We strongly encourage everyone to stay off the roadways, if possible,” Fort Lauderdale city officials said.
The warning came as about 600 residents were in emergency shelter locations Thursday night, the city said, where they have access to shelter, food and other necessities.
The effects of the flooding also prompted Broward County Public Schools on Friday to cancel classes for the second day in a row.
In addition to responding to hundreds of rescue calls Thursday, crews throughout the Fort Lauderdale metro area worked to clear ditches and deploy pumps where possible to help alleviate the devastating effects of flooding.
Hollywood, Florida, Mayor Josh Levy said his city saw more than a foot of rain accumulate in areas that experienced consecutive days of “seemingly nonstop rain.”
“The ground is covered so the flooding in our city and all of South Florida is severe. Many roads are impassable. Many cars are stuck and left abandoned in the middle of our roads.
“I’ve lived here my whole life. This is the worst flooding I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for Broward County to provide additional resources to crews and residents on the ground.
The rain is similar to a high-end typhoon, said the forecaster
Trucks and a resident on foot walk through receding flood waters in the Sailboat Bend neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Thursday, April 13, 2023.
Fort Lauderdale, home to nearly 200,000 residents, saw 25.91 inches of rain in a 24-hour period Wednesday and Thursday, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service office in Miami. .
The deepest standing water surveyed Thursday was in the Edgewood neighborhood north of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where a water mark of more than 3 feet was measured near Floyd Hull Stadium, according to the weather service. in Miami.
Other surrounding areas, including Hollywood, Dania Beach and Lauderdale Lakes, collected between 12 and 18 inches of rain in the same 24-hour period, preliminary reports showed.
“This amount of rain in a 24-hour period is very unusual for South Florida,” said meteorologist Ana Torres-Vazquez of the weather service’s Miami forecast office.
A high-end storm typically drops 20 to 25 inches of rain over more than one day, Torres-Vazquez said, describing the rain as a “1-in-1,000-year event , or more,” meaning that this is a very serious event. There is only a 0.1% chance of this happening in any given year.
During the peak of the heavy barrages on Wednesday, a month’s worth of rain fell in just one hour. Fort Lauderdale’s average rainfall for April is 3 inches, and it’s been nearly 25 years since the city received 20 inches of rain in an entire month.
That’s why it will take time for the water to completely recede, officials said.
“Due to the extreme amount of water, most areas will have to drain naturally,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis. “Crews are in neighborhoods cleaning storm drains to help drain water from neighborhoods. Vacuum trucks are strategically deployed throughout the city.
“There’s not one place in this city that hasn’t been affected.”
People try and save valuables, which were washed away by high flood waters in a neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, April 13, 2023.
Music festival will continue on Friday
Fort Lauderdale’s three-day music festival is set to begin Friday as planned, organizers said, as attendees sought alternate routes to get through flooded streets.
The Tortuga Music Festival will open its gates at noon on Friday, a spokesperson for the festival told CNN. The country music festival, which aims to raise funds for marine conservation efforts, returns for its tenth year.
“We are looking forward to a great weekend, for a great cause, and the best fans in the world to enjoy the tenth anniversary of Tortuga,” said the spokesperson of the festival.
Mandi-Lynn Guertin, who flew to Fort Lauderdale from Connecticut for the festival, said she had never experienced flooding this much before.
Guertin was in a rental car with friends when the car got stuck in about 3 feet of water, turned off and the water quickly filled the interior. The group had to leave it on the side of the road.
“Right now we can’t leave our Airbnb because the flood waters are so high and there are no Ubers coming out to get us,” Guertin told CNN.
CNN’s Carlos Suarez, Alisha Ebrahimji, Joe Sutton, Raja Razek, Travis Caldwell, Jennifer Gray, Monica Garrett, Melissa Alonso, Brandon Miller, Robert Shackelford, Derek Van Dam and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.
