FEMA to visit this week
Flood waters remained to the bottom of car doors and nearly to front door knobs of homes in Ft. Lauderdale the morning after the big rain, April 13, 2023. Courtesy, Broward S.O.
While schools are reopening today, some roads are still flooded this morning in Ft. Lauderdale and power still being restored, with FEMA planning to visit this week to do a formal damage assessment following last week’s “unprecedented” rainfall in parts of the city. Thankfully, there are no reported serious injuries or deaths. Unfortunately, there’s a 70% chance of more rain there today. One Red Cross shelter reached its 100-person capacity prompting authorities to open a second shelter, both of which remain open this morning.
Parts of Ft. Lauderdale got nearly 26 inches of rain in less than 24 hours last Wednesday, most of it falling in a 6-8 hour period, plus another two inches in some locations on Thursday. That was on top of a steady 31 inches of rain that fell over the previous three days. The current Florida record for 24-hour rainfall is 23.28 inches which fell in Key West on Nov. 11, 1980, making this a 1-in-500 year rainfall. Meteorologists called it an “unprecedented event,” with one commenting that even in a hurricane it’s unusual to see rainfall rates of 4-6 inches per hour over many hours in the same spot. They blamed a supercell that was caught in a lull between opposing weather systems.
Roads turned into rivers. Hundreds of homes and business were inundated with flood waters of anywhere from a few inches to a few feet. State Farm Insurance reported more than 1,300 auto claims by Friday. One industry analysis identified 67,000 single-family and multifamily homes in Broward County as being at an elevated risk of flooding, with a combined reconstruction value of $17 billion.
Members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue Department evacuated Ft. Lauderdale residents from their flooded homes, April 13, 2023. Courtesy Broward S.O.
We weren’t surprised to see Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie spring into action without invitation from Broward County officials. There was a state emergency declaration issued Thursday and Guthrie has been working with FEMA since to get a formal damage evaluation toward hopefully declaring an emergency, so that residents can qualify for federal individual assistance.
The Sun Sentinel reports the city has been pumping streets with a fleet of 27 trucks, yet some areas remain submerged in 2 to 3 feet of water as of yesterday afternoon. The Miami Herald reports that Ft. Lauderdale is in the middle of a $200 million, five-year overhaul of its stormwater drainage systems. “In peak condition, Fort Lauderdale’s streets are designed to handle about 3 inches of rain in a single day, like most cities in South Florida. And the newer design, based on the city’s 2017 stormwater masterplan, only ups that total to 7 inches,” the Herald writes. The city’s head of public works said it’s unaffordable to plan for the worst events such as last week’s.
We salute the first responders who rescued hundreds of folks from their swamped vehicles during the deluge and who have been working long hours since to maintain public safety during this recovery period.
LMA Newsletter of 4-17-23
