Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach and Broward County issued emergency declarations Thursday morning after a record-setting amount of rainfall closed a major airport and flooded a number of roadways.
Fort Lauderdale officials said emergency management crews worked continuously through the night to attend rescue calls as cars were stalled by floodwaters and homes and businesses became inundated by some two feet of rainfall in some areas.
"We ask neighbors to be patient with respect to the flooding, as the 50-year flood event has poured more than 20" of rain in areas of Fort Lauderdale," city offcials said in a statement. "We expect the flooding to subside through the next hours and have seen improvements in certain areas of downtown."
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Officials said crews were out in neighborhoods clearing storm drains to aid water receding from
neighborhoods. Vacuum trucks were being deployed strategically throughout the city, but because of the extreme amount of water, most areas will need to drain naturally, officials said.
"Please stay off the roads," a message from the city read in part. "There are various arterial roads with broken-down cars and tow trucks continue removing these to improve traffic flow."
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At a news conference Thursday, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said residents should stay patient while cleanup efforts continued.
"We also ask residents to be patient as some say this was a one thousand year storm that resulted in the weather service issuing a very rare flash flood alert," he said.
Officials added that many vehicles were towed to the side of the roads to clear them. If your car was left
abandoned on the roadway and you are unable to locate it, you're asked to contact Westway Towing at
954-731-1115 or go to 775 Northwest 5th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.
Wednesday's rainfall inundated the Fort Lauderdale metro area. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 25.91 inches of rain fell, shattering the old record of 14.59 inches set in 1979, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather service.
Fort Lauderdale's City Hall was closed Thursday, along with the Broward County Courthouse and State's Attorney's office. Schools in Broward County are also closed while the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is expected to remain closed until 5 a.m. Friday.
Officials said the Red Cross arrived at 5 a.m. to assist with a staging site at the Winn Dixie near State Road 84 and 9th Avenue.
"Individuals impacted by the flooding have been taken to this staging area and have been provided with blankets and coffee. This location is also serving as a reunification point," officials said.
Broward County officials also declared a local state of emergency so they can respond to emergency situations.
A state of emergency was also issued for Dania Beach on Thursday. City Hall, the beach, the pier, and all parks were closed as crews were assessing streets, city facilities, and infrastructure citywide to ensure the safety of residents and visitors, officials said.
Dania Beach residents were also asked to stay off the streets if possible.
A flood warning was in effect for Broward County until 4 p.m. Thursday.
In a news release Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Broward hadn't requested assistance from the state, but said the Florida Department of Emergency Management had deployed staff to support local efforts including collecting damage assessment data. He also said the FDEM director had been in contact with the Broward County Emergency Management Director and Fort Lauderdale's City manager.
In the days ahead, the National Weather Service will collect all the data to frame up the event. It’s possible that Wednesday's storms broke the single day rainfall record for the state of Florida.
