South Florida drying out after 48 hours of drenching rain, gusty winds
MIAMI - Relentless rain, which started Tuesday and continued through Thursday morning, combined with gusty winds left flooding and storm damage across South Florida.
In some areas of western Broward, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Miami Springs some streets were impassable Thursday morning due to flooding. A mobile home park near I-595 and Flamingo Road in Davie was inundated with water. Flooded conditions were also reported near Nova Southeastern University and on Griffin Road, east of US 441.
On North 14th Avenue in Hollywood, a flooded mess from all the rain was no match for the pumps and it made it difficult for cars to get through.
"I was trying to get my girlfriend to the airport on time and we made a bad decision, went down the wrong road and the car got flooded and stalled out," said Barbara Knapper. "My plan now is I'm going to have to buy a new car. I'm really really upset and my girlfriend missed her flight."
On Hollywood Beach, the ocean washed over the Broadwalk. That was the result of King Tides being pushed ashore by the system that brought us all that rain that is now offshore.
"This thing wasn't like that, for a long time, many many years we didn't see flooding like that in front of the Broadwalk, on the other side yes, on this side it's been a while since it was like that," said Ashar Dahar of Dahar Market.
Broward County Parks and Recreation said several locations have been temporarily closed due to flooded areas, fallen tree limbs, and palm fronds.
At Tree Tops Park in Davie, there was flooding in the playground area, equestrian and nature trails, and other areas and Easterlin Park. Fern Forest Nature Center in Coconut Creek had flooding along a service road. Portions of Plantation Heritage Park in Plantation were also flooded.
In Pompano Beach, a home on NW 5th Street, east of Powerline Road, had its roof damaged by the rain and winds.
Across Broward, trees were topped by the winds which gusted to 50 mph - 60 mph in the early morning hours of Thursday. On Fort Lauderdale Beach, towering Christmas decorations were blown over and a number of trees were toppled in the area of NE 9th Street and NE 17th Terrace in Fort Lauderdale. In the 2200 block of NW 18th Terrace in Fort Lauderdale, a large tree fell onto a truck.
Tree limbs were also downed on Miami Beach near Meridian Avenue and Flamingo Park. The whipping winds also toppled trees along 29th Street and Collins Avenue. A downed tree blocked a bike lane on Ocean Drive. Also on Miami Beach, flooding impacted Lumus Park.
Joe Tottossy, who was visiting from Virginia Beach, took the flooding and wind damage in stride.
"You guys in Florida get it a whole lot more, with the hurricanes and such, but we get it too, it's part of the experience, it's all good. A lot of the trees have gotten some damage but the palm trees are hanging in there. We know it's going to clear this weekend so it's going to be really nice," he said.
Nicole Tottossy, his wife, told CBS News MIami's Peter D'Oench, "I am initially from London so this is normal for me. They did a good job cleaning up everything and so it is very nice."
Pia Witt, a tourist from Hamburg, Germany, said "I am from Hamburg, Germany and we are used to this weather. But it was a surprise to me but it is nice now."
Her husband, Volkmar Witt, said "I felt terrified with the flooding in the dark with the storm. But it is nice now."
A Miami Beach police spokesman said the city conducted an assessment and found multiple areas of concern. One area was on Alton Road north of 41st Street where flood waters still covered the road on Thursday afternoon.
It was a similar situation in North Miami bear Northeast 121st Street and Biscayne Boulevard where the streets were still flooded on Thursday morning.
In Sunny Isles Beach, police urged drivers to use "extreme caution" after lights had gone out at 5 intersections at 158th, 159th, 170th, 185th and 189th streets because of the storm. FPL was notified and by the end of the afternoon all of the lights had been restored with one exception at 189th St.
The heavy winds also damaged numerous awnings across the area and contributed to the collapse of a vacant two-story building in Miami that had been slated for demolition.
The gusty winds also created a number of power outages across Miami-Dade and Broward, keeping FPL crews busy through the night and Thursday morning restoring power to thousands of customers.