Ft Laud Gets 1/3 Annual Rainfall in Hrs, 20"; Flooding, Hospital Knocked Offline, Airport Closed
- Fort Lauderdale was inundated with a third of its annual rainfall within hours, Wash Post, April 13. 2023. Ed.
(Photo: People try to save valuables, wading through high floodwaters in a Fort Laud., FL, neighborhood on Thursday. The rains caused widespread flooding, closed the Fort Laud.- Hollywood Airport & turned thoroughfares into rivers).
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The city’s main hospital was knocked offline for all but emergency procedures. Floodwaters shorted out the electrical equipment and generators at City Hall. And for the second straight day, one of the nation’s busiest airports was closed, stranding tens of thousands of travelers. But according to Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis (D), it could have been worse. “The storm hit us at low tide,” Trantalis said, as his city remained crippled on Thursday by overwhelming rainfall. “That was a great help.” Throughout the region, residents grappled with the impacts of the record-breaking storm, which sat over Fort Lauderdale & its 300 miles of coastal canals Wednesday.
The rain sent water surging through city streets, flooding hundreds of homes & vehicles, damaging critical infrastructure & leaving brackish water to stagnate under Florida’s April sun. More than a third of the normal annual rainfall in Fort Lauderdale poured down in torrents over 12 hours Wednesday, triggering what meteorologists called a 1-in-1,000-year flood. Several areas received 20 to 25" of rain, including 25.91" at the airport, according to the National Weather Service’s Miami office. Even Florida’s frequent brushes with tropical storms and hurricanes have never produced as much rain.
Fort Lauderdale’s previous record rainfall for a single day was 14.59 inches, set April 25, 1979; the city averages 3.02 inches of rain during the entire month of April.
“This is worse than any hurricane we have had,” said Fort Lauderdale city commissioner Warren Sturman, who represents the southern part of the city and ticked off names of past storms he’s experienced since moving to the city in 1971. “This flooding here is worst than any thing else we have seen in this area.” Sturman said the flooding appeared to peak in the neighborhoods that abut Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the nation’s 15th busiest, where water still covered parts of the runway on Thursday. Officials said the airport would remain closed at least until Friday morning.
Fire & rescue crews from Broward County descended on neighborhoods near the airport Thursday, using boats & high-water rescue vehicles to free residents from their homes.
Sturman estimates “at least hundreds & perhaps thousands” of people will need to find temporary shelter due to the flooding in Edgewood, River Oaks & other city neighborhoods closer to downtown skyscrapers, some of which also suffered flood damage. At a Red Cross shelter in Fort Laud.’s Holiday Park, some residents spoke of spending Wednesday night sleeping on mattresses that were “floating” or waterlogged. Many homes in the Edgewood are 1-story bungalows & trailers. Residents describe being terrified as 2- 4 ft of water sloshed into their homes late Wednesday afternoon.. as Conley prepared to spend Thurs. night in the Red Cross shelter, he said he’s ready to move to another state. “When my lease is up, I am out of here,” noting he has lived in So. Florida his entire life. “I already know where this is going, & I think FL is going to be underwater.”...https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/04/12/fort-lauderdale-flooding-florida-weather/
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