Janice R. Andrews
Since Tuesday, South Florida has seen severe downpours that have persisted for a fourth day straight, stranding drivers and converting roadways into canals.
There is no indication that the intense downpour that has resulted in significant flooding in South Florida since Tuesday will stop. Some individuals are forced to stand on the roofs of their automobiles or wade through waist-deep waters since roads have been turned into waterways. Even while the heavy tropical rainfall is starting to move away from the region, Friday is forecast to be another day of torrential rain, with several cities receiving more than two feet of rain between Tuesday and Friday.
“Through Friday over the southern Florida Peninsula, heavy to excessive rainfall will continue to bring flooding, with locally significant flash and urban flooding possible,” the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a warning.
Some locations have seen waist-deep flooding since the storm started, impassable roads, and stranded motorists. The most severely affected counties have closed their schools due to the dangerous weather, which has also resulted in hundreds of aircraft delays and cancellations.
Over South Florida, where the Weather Prediction Center has issued a level 2 to 4 flood hazard through Friday, Gulf moisture is still streaming in. Compared to Thursday, when there was an uncommonly high probability of extreme rainfall, this is a decrease. Over 7 million residents in South Florida, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, are still under flood watch as of Friday night. Through Friday night, an extra 2 to 4 inches of rain are anticipated, but by the weekend, thunderstorm activity is supposed to decrease.
Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties are under a state of emergency, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Floodwaters have flooded streets and crept into homes, prompting officials to advise residents to stay indoors and refrain from driving or walking through them. Sandbags are being given to citizens in many places to help with increasing sea levels.
Multiple waves of intense downpours, driven by tropical moisture from regions of the Caribbean, have struck the southern Florida Peninsula. Aerial imagery from Thursday morning showed that floodwaters had not had time to recede, and some neighborhoods in and north of the Miami metro region remain inundated. The NWS predicts that more urban flooding may occur in South Florida on Friday due to ongoing downpours. Until Saturday, flash and urban flooding are still expected in other parts of the state.
Flooding Brings Back Known Risks for Floridians:
Since Tuesday morning, there has been flooding that has caused water to reach car windows, fill parking decks, and cover residential streets. Threats comparable to these are now threatening many South Floridians who had just completed rebuilding their houses from devastating flooding in April 2023.
Videos taken in Miami show almost completely drowned cars and yards that seem like lakes with floating possessions. Outside her Northeast Miami-Dade home, an 11-year-old resident was expressing concern as she wade through thigh-high water. Video captured a man kayaking amid automobiles in Hallandale Beach, just north of Miami, as high waters flooded areas of the city. Michael Kane, the battalion chief of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue, stated that the area’s mobile home parks were submerged.
Severe flooding on Wednesday caused cars to be submerged up to the windshields; some drivers had to be rescued, while others were forced to leave their cars and wade to safety. According to Kane, his agency had 175 calls for assistance in Hallandale Beach alone. “We had to use our boats to rescue people standing on top of the roofs of cars,” he claimed.
As water levels rise, residents of the Edgewood area in Broward County are bracing for the worst. Anna Rysedorph, one of the residents, expressed her preparedness to leave her house when water was up to her ankles.
Severe Storms to Affect the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and High Plains:
Another system is threatening severe thunderstorms on Friday, with huge hail and strong gusts, to the Northern and Central High Plains, as well as parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, while Florida struggles with the flooding. According to the NWS, thunderstorms are predicted to occur throughout the High Plains starting on Friday afternoon and lasting into the evening.
The mid-Atlantic area to southern New England and the central High Plains are both at a level 2 (very modest) risk of severe thunderstorms. Parts of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas are under threat from the Central US, while Boston and northern Virginia are under hazard from the Northeast. Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, and Baltimore are all at risk of a lower level 1 of 5 severe storm.
On Friday afternoon and into the evening, there is a chance of severe storms with big hail and strong wind gusts along the Front Range and into the Central Plains. “Scattered severe storms with large hail and wind gusts of 60-80 mph will be possible from mid-afternoon through the evening on Friday along the Front Range to the central Great Plains,” said the Storm Prediction Center. “Scattered strong storms with sporadic damaging winds and isolated hail will be possible across the Northeast States during the afternoon to early evening.”
On Friday afternoon, storms are predicted to form over western Pennsylvania and move toward the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Coast that evening.
