Heavy floods are inundating streets and properties in South Florida, with the danger persisting.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has issued an emergency alert for Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties due to severe flooding that hindered the functioning of crucial infrastructure on Wednesday, including major highways, streets, schools, and airports.
Flood warnings are currently in effect in cities like Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Naples until early Thursday morning, as 4 to 13 inches of rain fell across the region on Wednesday. An additional 2 inches of rainfall might also occur in the region.
Flood vigils will remain in place across Southern Florida until Friday evening, as more rounds of severe rainfall are anticipated.
Hallandale Beach witnessed severe floods submerging cars up to their windshields in some areas, resulting in drivers abandoning their stalled vehicles and wading to safety.
In a tragic incident during the storm, a family in Hallandale Beach lost their young son, who was later discovered with the assistance of the police.
Kait Madrigal, a resident, was stuck in her car for five hours on Wednesday due to being engulfed by floodwaters on her way to work near Hollywood, Florida. She parked on the curb and got onto the higher ground but began to panic as the water rose and vehicles around her ground to a halt.
“If I had opened my car door, I would have just had a lot of water rushing in. I would have been in big trouble,” the 25-year-old expressed.
After many hours of continuous rainfall, Madrigal managed to wade through the water and locate an exit route. She eventually drove out and reached home safely.
Local authorities have cautioned against attempting to drive through hazardous floodwaters and advised storm-weary Floridians to remain indoors. Most flood-related fatalities are attributed to vehicles driving into deeper water unknowingly.
Fort Lauderdale, with the city's mayor declaring a state of local emergency, received above-average rainfall on Wednesday, recording 9.58 inches, surpassing its monthly average June rainfall of 9.55 inches.
Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport experienced the maximum number of canceled or delayed flights in the country, totaling over 1,200 disruptions. The flight disruptions are expected to persist till the end of the workweek.
In Broward County, the adverse weather conditions forced school authorities to defer the demolition of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School building, where a shooter killed 17 people in 2018.
Many South Florida dwellers, who had recently concluded repairing their homes following the catastrophic floods in April 2023, found water at their front doors once again.
Anna Rysedorph, a Broward County Edgewood neighborhood dweller, prepared for the worst as the water crept to her ankles in her house.
"I put the dogs in, and I'm all prepared. I pretty much got everything in bins and we're ready to go," Edgewood resident Anna Rysedorph told CNN affiliate WSVN Wednesday. "My husband's like 'Don't panic, don't panic,' but you know, I'm not gonna be caught unprepared."
Flooding threat expands day by day
Considerable flooding is imminent in southern Florida on Thursday and Friday as several storms sweep across the state.
Flood warnings have been issued for nearly 8 million people in the region through Thursday night. Some flood warnings reside in the Miami region, prolonging into Friday.
Parts of Florida are liable to witness rainfall in the double digits by event's end. Double-digit rainfall is especially probable across the southwestern Gulf Coast, stretching from Sarasota to Everglades National Park.
The flood risk will surge as the storms keep unleashing torrential downpours on the same location daily, oversaturating the ground and taxing waterways.
While Florida is accustomed to heavy rain, the intensity of heavy rain events is increasing due to global warming caused by fossil fuel use. These heavy daily downpours are also being driven by a firehose of tropical moisture sourced from the Caribbean Sea and directed into South Florida by a front stretching across the state.
A silver lining to the situation is the rain has the potential to benefit areas mired in drought. Half of Florida is experiencing moderate to severe dryness or drought, with the worst drought located in the heart of the regions set to receive the heaviest rain.
In contrast to plentiful warm water in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, upper-level winds, referred to as wind shear, are causing quite a disturbance, preventing any tropical systems from forming in these regions, says Jon Rizzo, a meteorologist at Key West's National Weather Service in Florida.
This gyre phenomenon is stimulating a surge of heavy rainfall along the Gulf Coast, as experienced by Florida this week.
"The formation of this Central American gyre implies that summer has arrived and the rainy season is imminent," as revealed by CNN.
The dampest months of the year for most of Florida are June, July, August, and September. The influx of deep, tropical moisture and the actual effects of tropical systems result in a significant increase in rainfall totals during this particular period.
CNN's Sara Smart and Jamiel Lynch aided in producing this report.
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The threat of flooding continues to expand in southern Florida, with warnings issued for nearly 8 million people until Thursday night. Governor DeSantis has also extended flood vigils until Friday evening due to anticipated additional rainfall.
