2023-11-16 06:59:00
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Pedestrians try to stay dry in Miami Beach, Florida, on Wednesday as rain inundates the area.
CNN
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More than 2 million people in South Florida face the risk of dangerous flash flooding through early Thursday morning as heavy rainfall continues to pound major metro areas, already inundating some roadways and forcing school closures.
Parts of Miami-Dade County could see severe, life-threatening flooding, the National Weather Service warned, issuing a flash flood warning across the county’s northern and central portions. The Miami and Fort Lauderdale metro areas are under the warning through 6 a.m. ET Thursday, according to the local National Weather Service.
“Drainage will be difficult in many coastal areas due (to) the high tide. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly,” the weather service in Miami warned.
In addition to the rain that has already soaked the region, 1 to 4 inches of rain are possible in places where the flash flood warning is active.
Southeast Florida faces the brunt of the blow, with rainfall totals expected to approach double digits. Areas around Fort Lauderdale, Miami and southwest into the Florida Keys could see 48-hour rainfall totals approach 10 inches.
By Wednesday night, Miami was drenched with 6.73 inches of rain within the previous 24 hours, while Hollywood received 5.62 inches and Fort Lauderdale saw 4.2 inches of rainfall during roughly the same time period, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service.
Broward County Public Schools canceled classes and closed administrative offices Thursday due to safety concerns, the district said on its website. Broward College in Fort Lauderdale will close Thursday for the second day in a row this week due to flooding, the school said online.
Meanwhile in Lauderdale Lakes, located in Broward County, wind gusts toppled over a tree and destroyed two cars, CNN affiliate WSVN reported Wednesday.
Spiro Marchelos, the owner of Anglers Beach Cafe, gave his employees the day off due to the conditions.
“It’s a loss of revenue, but we have no choice,” he told the outlet. “The weather is bad, and people aren’t going to come to the beach today. It’s windy, rainy, and the streets are flooded.”
As of Wednesday night, more than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida, according to the outage tracking website Poweroutages.us.
There is a slight risk for excessive rainfall, level 2 of 4, along the eastern coast of Florida beginning early Thursday morning and continuing through the day, according to the Weather Prediction Center. A marginal risk for excessive rainfall, level 1 of 4, is in place over southeastern Florida through Thursday.
Portions of Palm Beach County and Broward County – where Fort Lauderdale is located – saw 3 to 6 inches of rain on Tuesday and stand to get an additional 8 to 10 inches through Thursday. Three-day rainfall totals in excess of a foot are not out of the question in these areas.
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Fort Lauderdale has already had an abnormally wet year, and this week’s rain will likely be enough to push the city into record territory. As of Wednesday morning, the city had recorded 100 inches of rain this year, just shy of its wettest year on record – 102.36 inches in 1947.
And now Greg Brandenburg of Fort Lauderdale is bracing for the worst.
“It’s just so much rain that we’ve had this year, it’s crazy,” he told WSVN. “Now we got this rain situation coming back again. It’s just tiring.”
The torrential rainfall rates and accumulation totals through Thursday across southeastern Florida will lead to “a higher probability of flash flooding concerns within the urban corridor down into the Florida Keys north of Marathon,” according to the Weather Prediction Center.
Saturated ground and ongoing king tides could slow the water from receding in coastal communities that flood this week.
CNN Meteorologists Derek Van Dam and Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
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