Fort Lauderdale rain not bothering tourists, city officials say they are prepared
MIAMI - Fort Lauderdale residents woke up Tuesday to soggy conditions in what is to be a week of storms, but tourists are taking the wet weather in stride and city officials tell CBS News Miami they are prepared.
Tourist Greg Hejna is not letting bad weather rain on his parade.
"You know - it's just part of life," Hejna said.
Hejna and his family are visiting from Chicago. This isn't the way they anticipated spending their vacation, but Hejna says he plans to keep exploring despite the weather.
"Whenever I go someplace, I enjoy being out and about and just looking at the local life and getting a flavor for what's going on. So. to me, it doesn't bother me,"
The weather is not bothering visitors from Texas, either.
Tourist Cindy Tamblyn said, "A little water never hurt anybody. So, we're just making the best of it."
Wanda Cox, another tourist, said, "Rain or shine, we party on it."
According to Fort Lauderdale officials, the city is expecting 8 inches of rain from Tuesday through Friday, with two inches expected to fall each day.
Dr. Nancy Gassman, who works in the sustainability division of the public works department, says the city is ready.
"We've been maintaining our systems, making sure that critical areas are clear and doing the kinds of repairs that we need to do to ensure that the system is working well," said Gassman.
So far, city officials say the call center isn't experiencing an increase in calls from residents and that city services are operating normally.