Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP) – A tropical disturbance a A rare flash flood emergency Much of South Florida saw flights delayed at the state’s two largest airports and vehicles flooded and parked on some of the region’s low-lying streets.
“Sounds 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 stranded vehicles. “Cars are littered everywhere, on sidewalks, in the median, in the middle of the street, with no lights on. Just crazy, you know. Abandoned cars everywhere.
Rico, of One Master Trucking Corp., born and raised in Miami, said he is prepared for emergencies.
“You know when it’s coming,” he said. “It’s getting worse every year, and for some reason people keep going through puddles.”
Matthew Koziol, Matias Ricci, Manuel Ricci and Raúl Fernández sail through a flooded street on North Bay Road in Sunny Isles Beach, Wednesday, June 12, 2024.
Commuters across the region were scrambling to adjust their plans Thursday morning. Over 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of South Florida. Starting Tuesday, more will be forecast over the next few days.
Ticket and security lines snake around a domestic crowd at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport around noon Thursday. Travel boards showed half of the terminal’s flights had been canceled or delayed.
Navy Petty Officer Bill Carlisle was trying to catch his morning flight to Norfolk, Virginia. He arrived at Miami International Airport around 6:30 a.m., but 90 minutes later he was in line and realized he couldn’t check his bags and get through security in time to catch his flight.
“It’s a zoo,” said Carlisle, a public affairs specialist. He spoke for himself, not for the Navy. “Nothing against the (airport) staff – that’s all they can do.”
So he used his phone to book an afternoon flight out of Fort Lauderdale. He took a shuttle 20 miles north and found the flight cancelled. He was now on a 9pm flight back to Miami, hoping it wouldn’t be canceled by heavy rain expected later in the day. He was resigned, not angry.
“A long day sitting in airports,” Carlisle said. “It’s par for the course for government travel.”
Wednesday Rain and subsequent flooding Blocked roads, floating vehicles and even Florida delayed the Panthers On their way to the Stanley Cup playoffs in Canada against the Edmonton Oilers.
The irregular storm system pushed from the Gulf of Mexico across Florida at roughly the same time as early June of the hurricane season, which this year Prediction that will be very active Amid concerns that climate change is increasing storm intensity in recent memory.
Once it crossed Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean, the disturbance did not reach hurricane status and was given only a small chance to develop into a tropical system, the National Hurricane Center said.
Hector Guifaro climbs onto the front of his vehicle to avoid a flooded street in front of the St. Edwards Apartments in Edgewater on NE 23rd Street in Miami, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP)
In Hallandale Beach, Alex Demsemko walks his Russian spaniel, Lex, on a still-flooded sidewalk near an Airbnb after arriving in the U.S. from Russia last month to seek asylum.
“We didn’t get out of our apartment, but we had to walk our dog,” Demsemko said. “There were a lot of flashes, rain, a lot of floating cars and a lot of cars without drivers, and there was a lot of water in the streets. It was kind of a disaster.
On Thursday morning, Daniela Urrieche, 26, was bailing water out of her SUV when she got stuck in a flooded street on her way home from work on Wednesday afternoon.
“In the nine years I’ve lived here, it’s been the worst,” he said. “Even with a hurricane, the streets haven’t been that bad in the last 24 hours.”
Flooding is not limited to streets. Charlia Johnson spent Wednesday night in the sink and toilet of her Hallandale Beach home in a barrel of water.
“The water began to flood back and flood front,” Johnson said.
By Wednesday evening, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and mayors in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami-Dade counties each declared a state of emergency.
Already a wet and blustery week in Florida. In Miami, about 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain fell on Tuesday, with 7 inches (17 centimeters) in Miami Beach, the National Weather Service said. Hollywood got about 5 inches (12 centimeters).
More rain is forecast later in the week, with some areas receiving up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain.
The western part of the state has a large portion of it A long drought, got some big showers too. Sarasota Bradenton International Airport received nearly 6.5 inches (16.5 centimeters) of rain on Tuesday, the weather service said, and flash flood warnings were in effect for those areas as well.
Forecasts predict an unusually busy hurricane season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has estimated an 85% chance of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, predicting 17 to 25 named storms, including 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes, in the coming months. An average season has 14 named storms.
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Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg and Stephanie Maudt in Hallandale Beach contributed to this story.
