Hollywood residents dealing with second day of King Tides
HOLLYWOOD - Parts of Hollywood's South Lake Neighborhood had standing water on the streets after Tuesday morning's King Tides, one day after the first round of higher-than-normal tides.
On Tuesday, water was flowing onto the street from the Intracoastal, bubbling up from storm drains.
"I think we've become used to it. We're kind of accustomed to it," homeowner Randy Wade said.
He has seen flooding in the past, not just from King Tides, but also heavy rain.
It's the same situation with his neighbor Joe Citrano.
"It's our typical fall King Tide, where our street turns into a river," Citrano said.
He's adapting to live with not only King Tides but flooding from rainfall.
"We went and bought two Land Rover Defenders to get through the water," Citrano said. "Because not only happens when it's King Tide, but it also happens when we get those heavy rains where the water doesn't go down."
Hollywood is already installing tidal valves to try to stop water from coming up through drains. They're also beginning a project to raise some streets on the beach — as well as installing pumps to get flood water moving out. They're doing the same in Fort Lauderdale, and raising sea walls. They've completed four on Las Olas Boulevard.
"Our hope is that over the course of this particular King Tide season, we're going to see a significant reduction of flooding onto Las Olas Boulevard," Dr. Nancy Gassman, who is Fort Lauderdale's chief resiliency officer, said.
David Maya lives in the Las Olas Isles. Before seawalls were raised in his neighborhood, streets could flood.
"When King Tides hit, it was literally the sea wall was flush with the road, so it would just come right over and fill the entire road," Maya said.
Not anymore.
"It immediately put a stop to all that. Now it's great," he said.
King Tides will be around periodically through mid December. Experts predict Thursday, Friday and Saturday will see higher than expected tides.