Two of the biggest airports in the state experienced flight delays due to a tropical disturbance that caused a rare flash flood emergency across a significant portion of southern Florida. Additionally, some of the lowest-lying roadways in the area experienced stalled and waterlogged automobiles.
“Looked like the beginning of a zombie movie,” said Ted Rico, a tow truck driver who spent much of Wednesday night and Thursday morning helping to clear the streets of stalled vehicles. “There’s cars littered everywhere, on top of sidewalks, in the median, in the middle of the street, no lights on. Just craziness, you know. Abandoned cars everywhere.”
Born and reared in Miami, Rico, of One Master Trucking Corp., declared himself prepared for the situation.
“You know when it’s coming,” he said. “Every year it’s just getting worse, and for some reason, people just keep going through the puddles.”
On Thursday morning, travellers from all around the region were attempting to change their schedules. In several parts of South Florida, more than 20 inches (50 cm) of rain have poured since Tuesday, and more is expected over the following few days.
Just before noon on Thursday, queues for tickets and security twisted around a domestic concourse at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. About half of the flights at that terminal had been cancelled or delayed, according to the travel boards.
First-class Navy petty officer Bill Carlisle had spent the morning attempting to board a plane that would return him to Norfolk, Virginia. He reached Miami International Airport at roughly 6:30 a.m., but after waiting in line for 90 minutes, he discovered he would not be able to pass through security and have his bags checked in time for his departure.
“It was a zoo,” said Carlisle, a public affairs specialist. He was speaking for himself, not the Navy. “Nothing against the (airport) employees — there is only so much they can do.”
Thus, he booked an afternoon flight out of Fort Lauderdale using his phone. After travelling 20 miles north on a shuttle, he discovered the flight had been cancelled. Now, he was returning to Miami in hopes that the torrential rains that were predicted for later in the day wouldn’t cancel his 9 p.m. flight. He was not angry, just resigned.
Carlisle remarked, “Just a long day sitting in airports.” “This is pretty standard procedure when travelling for the government.”
The rain and ensuing flooding on Wednesday caused road closures, automobile floats, and even a delay for the Florida Panthers travelling to Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup games in Canada.
At about the same time that the hurricane season began in early June, the unorganized storm system was moving across Florida from the Gulf of Mexico. This year is expected to be among the busiest in recent memory due to worries that storm severity is rising due to climate change.
The National Hurricane Center states that the disturbance has not yet reached cyclone status and that there is only a remote possibility that it may develop into a tropical system as it crosses Florida and enters the Atlantic Ocean.
Alex Demchemko, who arrived in the United States last month to seek asylum, was strolling his Russian spaniel, Lex, down the still-flooded sidewalks near the Airbnb in Hallandale Beach.
Demchemko stated, “We had to walk with our dog, but we didn’t come out from our apartment.” There were numerous lightning strikes, downpours, floating automobiles, abandoned autos, and a lot of water on the roadways. It was quite disastrous.
Daniela Urrieche, 26, was hauling water out of her SUV on Thursday morning after driving home from work on Wednesday afternoon and becoming stuck on a flooded roadway.
“In the nine years that I’ve lived here, this has been the worst,” she said. “Even in a hurricane, streets were not as bad as it was in the past 24 hours.”
There was more flooding outside of the streets. Charlea Johnson poured water into the sink and toilet at her Hallandale Beach house on Wednesday night.
Johnson stated, “The water just started flooding in the front and the back.”
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, together with the mayors of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Miami-Dade County, all proclaimed states of emergency by Wednesday night.
In Florida, the week has already been drenched and windy. According to the National Weather Service, there was around 6 inches of rain in Miami on Tuesday, and 7 inches in Miami Beach. Hollywood gained roughly 5 inches.
For the remainder of the week, further rain was expected, with up to six inches falling in some places.
Significant rainfall was also received by the western portion of the state, which has been largely experiencing a protracted drought. The weather service reports that Sarasota Bradenton International Airport received about 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) of rain on Tuesday. Flash flood advisories were also in place for those locations.
An exceptionally busy hurricane season is predicted by forecasts.
With between 17 and 25 named storms, including up to 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes, in the upcoming months, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects an 85% chance that the Atlantic hurricane season will be above average. There are 14 named storms in a typical season.
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