South Florida will see “quiet and benign weather” for the rest of the week, forecasters said, after a night of steady storms that swamped roads, snapped power lines and trees and dredged up memories of the historic April flooding for residents in some of Broward County’s more flood-prone areas.
Broward took the biggest soaking of the South Florida region. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea received the most rain, at 13.31 inches, according to the National Weather Service Miami. Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Cooper City, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and Pembroke Pines all received over 12 inches. The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport recorded about 10 inches, Weston picked up 10.36 inches and Miramar 9.89 inches.
Miami-Dade County was hard-hit as well: Biscayne Park got 10.12 inches and Coral Gables and Coconut Grove were both soaked with just over 9 inches of rain.
The storms damaged crops that were “destined for Thanksgiving tables around the US” in Miami-Dade County, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Thursday evening.
There were no reports of permanent damage in Miami-Dade County as of Thursday afternoon, Jennie Lopez, a spokesperson for the county mayor’s office, said in an email. Officials were removing standing water and will complete a full assessment once things have dried up and cleared of debris, she said.
Palm Beach County fared a bit better. Delray Beach topped the list with 6.19 inches. Boca Raton and the Golden Lakes development in the central part of the county both received just over 4 inches, and Jupiter was hit with just over 3 inches.
More than 110,000 were without power at dawn Thursday. By about 8 p.m., FPL reported much lower numbers: 11,226 in Broward, 19,082 in Miami-Dade and 3,483 in Palm Beach County.
The storms Wednesday brought Fort Lauderdale’s annual total rainfall to date to 102 inches — more than any other city in the country, Mayor Dean Trantalis said Thursday afternoon during a news conference at the W Fort Lauderdale hotel.
The 102 inches so far this year is nearly 40 inches more than the annual rainfall for 2022, according to South Florida Water Management District data.
Minor, moderate damage
While the rain and wind were reminiscent of a tropical storm, the area of low pressure that produced the tempest was not considered a tropical system.
National Weather Service Miami meteorologist Sammy Hadi said tropical systems pick up their energy from warm water. “This system was connected to a frontal boundary,” he said. “There was a gradient between warm and cold air, so it wasn’t tropical.”
Wind gusts were near hurricane strength in some areas, Hadi said. Wind speeds at Port Everglades topped out at 75 mph, Government Cut in Miami saw 75 mph and Dania Pier reached 70 mph.
Still, Fort Lauderdale emerged from the storm without any major damage. The water and wind damage city officials assessed Thursday was minor to moderate, the city said in a statement.
The downpour mainly led to street flooding, Trantalis said, and while the wet roadways have been a “nuisance,” he said, “we have not seen anything like the devastating flood that we saw back April 12.”
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue received 80 calls for service relating to the storms, the mayor said. The city said in a news release that firefighters responded to 15 calls for service in high-water vehicles overnight Wednesday.
Fort Lauderdale saw the highest tide it has seen all year Thursday morning, compounding the flooding, officials said, and it will take time for the water to drain in low-lying and coastal areas.
More than 30 roads in the city were flooded by Thursday morning, and seven of them have since been cleared, city officials said Thursday evening. Pumps, vacuum trucks, tankers, and pump trucks were still clearing roads.
Broward schools, city facilities and the state courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale will reopen Friday.
Pompano Beach had a tumultuous two days with “numerous” calls coming in from stranded drivers beginning Tuesday night and continuing into Thursday morning, said city spokesperson Sandra King.
The city’s tennis center and dog park were both underwater and closed, along with closures of the pickleball courts and aquatic centers. The Fischer Family Pier saw significant damage and is also closed until further notice.
Strong winds and high, rocky waves lashed in Pompano Beach on Thursday after the storm. Save for the rather unfavorable swimming conditions, the temperature and clear skies dotted with parasailers made it a beautiful beach day.
Alexander Haugen, 26, sat at the beach Thursday watching the waves. He said the rain was bad Wednesday night at his and his parents’ home in Plantation, but conditions were better by Thursday morning.
Elodie Jovial was also enjoying Pompano Beach with her son Thursday afternoon. She hadn’t heard of anyone’s homes flooding Wednesday. Puddles of standing water were pooled in portions of the neighborhood, but nothing beyond that, she said.
Still, the scariest part of the two-day storms was trying to drive through it, Jovial said, when she ventured out Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Flood-prone areas
The Melrose Manors, Edgewood, River Oaks, Shady Banks, Durrs, Dorsey Riverbend, Croissant Park, Chula Vista and the Islands were among the neighborhoods most affected by the storms, Fort Lauderdale officials said. Water levels were up to 2 feet in some areas.
Some of the areas hit hard on Wednesday were those hammered in April, resulting in the airport being closed for two days, and highly destructive flooding. The recent storms set some residents on edge and resurfaced frustrations about drainage systems.
Lisa Hoyt, who lives in River Oaks, said she panicked when she heard about the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. City officials said six pump trucks were working in River Oaks Thursday, an area that saw six inches of water.
“I left work early,” she said. “I got home, kept monitoring the rain, kept looking outside, front and back.”
Water pooled in front of her home on Thursday, but she said she isn’t aware of anyone’s house flooding.
“I haven’t walked the neighborhood yet,” she said. “Kind of afraid to at the moment.”
Hoyt and her husband, Robert, have lived in their home for 27 years. They do not have flood insurance, and they did not have it back in April, but they plan to file for it now.
“I actually just finished touching up the paint in the house this past weekend because we had to replace all the floors and all the baseboards and whatnot,” she said. “I feel good that we just finished this past weekend and then bam, we got rain again.”
Alycia Wolski lives in Shady Banks. Crews were focusing cleanup efforts there Thursday, after nearly 6 inches of water was reported in the neighborhood, city officials said.
Wolski said she lives near a particularly “problematic” intersection in the area, Southwest 14th Street and Southwest 18th Avenue, where she said there’s no drain, which has been a source of frustration for her for years.
She’s routinely watched the intersection flood, having lived in the area for 35 years. Half of her home was ruined in April.
The water Wednesday night creeped up her neighbor’s driveway and was inching closer to the door, Wolski said, and the home of a neighbor who lives closest to the intersection flooded. Wolski watched the water rise from about 7 p.m. into the night.
“If the rain kept up or came down any harder, homes would have flooded and the help wouldn’t have arrived soon enough,” she said. “But, fortunately, we didn’t need it this time like we did in April.”
A pump was still draining her street Thursday evening, and the water level had receded significantly, she said. She remembered staying up into the early morning hours in the April flood, dumping water into her shower, using a wet vacuum, trying to keep the water at bay.
“This time we barricaded the door and were just like well, ‘What can we do?'”
Weather ahead
The NWS Miami’s briefing Thursday said the weather will be “quiet and benign” for the rest of the week with highs in the low-to-mid 80s.
Some light rain is possible Friday, though “nothing to the tune of what was observed (Wednesday,)” the NWS Miami said in an area forecast discussion Thursday night. It could slow the drainage of standing water.
South Floridians can still expect high waves and rip currents along the beaches Friday, and minor coastal flooding remains possible through Friday afternoon during high tide, the weather service said.
High tides are expected at 10:52 a.m. and 10:57 p.m. Friday.
High winds will continue to produce dangerous marine conditions, such as rip currents and high surf, through Friday, forecasters said.
“What a change 24 hours makes …” the NWS Miami discussion said. “Conditions have really quieted down over South Florida as the impactful coastal low is pulling away from the area.”
