Families arriving home to Logan Airport impacted by flooding rains in Florida
BOSTON - The Fort Lauderdale airport will be closed until at least Friday morning following an historic flood in the region.
The area was drenched in two feet of rain in just 24 hours and impacted travelers trying to make their way home to Logan Airport.
"I think everyone was caught off guard. It was more rain than I've ever seen," said Jamie Kinch who was on a business trip and captured water pouring into the airport where he arrived just before it closed for his flight to Boston. "There were so many cars stalled in water. They had to tow cars out before anyone could start to exit the airport."
He says he witnessed desperate passengers leaving on foot toward the highway with so many vehicles trapped and flights cancelled indefinitely. "People were trying to walk as far away from the airport as possible to get lifts to pick them up."
Suresh Kannan and his daughters were caught in the flood waters themselves, trying to make their way to the airport in a rideshare and capturing video of the flooded streets around them.
"There were a lot of cars that were stalled and we had to redirect many times before going in the direction that was necessary to get to the airport," said Kannan. What they didn't know was that the airport had closed and what should have been a half hour ride turned into a three hour odyssey to get there.
"I saw people get out of cars and walk barefoot, it was more than knee deep," said Kiara Kannan, who was worried they wouldn't make it.
Jamie Kinch said he was able to make his way through the parking garage in a car driven by a work colleague and fortunate enough to find a way out. He was able to get a new flight out of Miami.
"We kind of went on an adventure through the parking lot to find our way through the chaos and blazed our own trail in some parts as well," said Kinch.
For the Kannan's it was a washed out family vacation and 24 hours later finally made it home on a flight from Miami. "We were just happy not to have stalled," said Kannan.