Residents Concerned As High Tides Lead To Lots Of Flooding
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – As the moon rose over Fort Lauderdale Monday evening, residents kept a close eye on the rising waters along the Intracoastal Waterway.
"This is the highest tides I've seen in 18 years," said resident Kerry Marsh.
Marsh pointed out his neighbors whose docks are nearly submerged from the high tide Monday night.
With the moon closer to the earth local leaders across South Florida are warning that the so-called King Tides could be a royal pain for people living near the water.
As high tide rolled in Monday night, water covered streets along Las Olas Boulevard and crept up on some businesses that were protected with sandbags.
While the east Las Olas Boulevard area dealt with flooding from the ocean, residents in Oakland Park dealt with flooding from the sky.
Rain fell hard and fast on Monday afternoon and flooded the area near Prospect Road and NE 6th Avenue.
The only mode of transportation for longtime resident Donald West was walking. He said the road needs to be higher.
"They need to lift it up so when it rains the water flows out," West said.
Back in Fort Lauderdale, workers moved quickly Monday night to try and clean storm drains and suck out water moving in to neighborhoods.
However, for many it feels like there are few options when the waters start rising.
"You just gotta deal with it," Marsh said. "Maybe next time raise the sea wall a little bit. Gotta deal with it."
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said in an email that they have installed dozens of valves to try and reduce the problems from King Tides and that this is something city leaders are warning residents to be watchful of all week.