Drivers were met with flooded roadways across parts of Broward County on Thursday as a result of the impacts from Hurricane Nicole.
Chopper footage showed the flooding along A1A just sound of Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale after the storm made landfall Thursday morning over 90 miles north in Hutchinson Island.
Some lanes of the roadway were partially blocked as cleanup efforts were underway.
King tide and several inches of rain brought flooding along Florida A1A in both Fort Lauderdale Beach and Hollywood Beach on Wednesday night.
“We were just at the restaurant and the water came up really fast, so we kind of finished our dinner really quick, and then we’ve come out and there’s water everywhere,” said Aimee, a tourist from Australia who was visiting Hollywood Beach.
Video shared with NBC 6 also showed water gushing over the Broadwalk as conditions intensified.
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Police officers blocked off flooded areas along A1A and Hollywood Boulevard to vehicular traffic.
It wasn’t just motorists who felt the impacts, but local businesses as well.
NBC 6 spoke to management at restaurants along A1A, Taverna Opa’s Greek Restaurant and Billy’s Stone Crab, about the storm’s early impacts.
“I have a restaurant full of customers, that they cannot leave the restaurant right now," said Gabriela Cabrera, manager at Taverna Opa’s. "If you look behind you, the parking lot, it’s fully flooded, across the street it’s fully flooded, and like I said, this is an every year situation."
“We’re going to close down now a little early. We’re not going to seat anybody else because with this water look how high it is already, so we have to be able to get our employees home and safe to their families,” Billy’s Stone Crab manager, Michael Leffler.
