As Hurricane Dorian Churns, Fort Lauderdale Prepares For King Tides
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Over the past few weeks and months, the City of Fort Lauderdale checked their pump stations, put up orange road markers to distinguish the roadway from the waterway and installed higher seawalls in the past few weeks and months to prepare for the annual King Tides.
"We are preparing year-round to address these concerns," said Dr. Nancy Gassman, Assistant Public Works Director for the City of Fort Lauderdale. She said the first King Tides of the year are expected on Thursday and the city is seeing signs that they might be even higher than anticipated.
"We were concerned about the predicted tide and now we have a tide that's coming in more than half a foot over what was predicted," Gassman told CBS 4 News.
That could lead to big problems like we've seen in years past in Fort Lauderdale with street flooding. Residents who live in Riviera Isles near Fort Lauderdale beach say it's part of living in such a beautiful area.
"Sandbags and hoping. That's all you can do," said Larry Danielle. "You can't stop the ocean."
"I've lived here 20 years and every year it's a little worse," said Frank Walkow. "When you have to park your car at the gas station at the corner and roll up your pants to walk to your house, it's a pain in the butt."
Dr. Gassman said another concern is what effects — if any — South Florida sees from Hurricane Dorian.
"Our biggest concern is the timing of any potential landfall of the hurricane during a king tide. If it happens at exactly the same time as the King Tide that will make the storm surge impacts much greater," she explained.
While Fort Lauderdale deals with King Tides, South Florida water managers are lowering canals to make room for possible rains. Residents, meanwhile, are busy stocking up on food water and supplies. At the Publx and Target Stores near Sawgrass Mills, people stopped up nearly all the cases of water.
In Fort Lauderdale, they expect to have all the water they can deal with starting Thursday. Just not the drinkable kind.
"We always hope for the best but we prepare for the worst," Dr. Gassman said, adding that the city intends to spend $200 million dollars over the next 5 years on stormwater infrastructure improvements.
The City of Fort Lauderdale has extensive information about preparations and other information on their website at fortlauderdale.gov/kingtide.
