Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said city recovering from torrential rain, flooding
FORT LAUDERDALE - Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said the city's recovery from this week's torrential rainfall and subsequent flooding is progressing well and more help is on the way.
During an update briefing on Friday, Trantalis said they have begun receiving substantial help from both the state and federal governments. He said the recovery is truly a joint effort and thanked a host of politicians and municipalities for reaching out to help.
The mayor said one of their primary needs is pump trucks to help clear the flood waters. He said the city originally had 14 on the ground and they requested 20 more. Four of those have arrived and the other 16 are on the way.
"The initial need for these trucks was to try to remove the water around FPL's installations. Had those installations gotten overwhelmed by water, we would have lost electricity on top of the flooding disaster," said Trantalis. "So right now those situations are being corrected and they will soon move on to other areas in those neighborhoods."
The mayor said they are determined to make sure that residents are safe and that neighborhoods and communities are restored.
He said they have opened an emergency shelter and family reunification center with the American Red Cross in the recreation center at Holiday Park. So far, 40 people and their pets are staying in the shelter. The mayor said they are looking for additional places for comfort centers for residents where they can receive a hot meal and have a safe space to sleep.
Trantalis said while Thursday evening's additional rain was a setback, their crews and mutual aid partners have been working around the clod on recovery efforts.
"The fire department continues to respond to calls for help. Last night we handled an additional 250 calls for help on top of the 900 that we previously received. We've had multiple fires and other emergency events that are likely a direct correlation to the storm. A large part of the city has some level of flooding. We have crews surveying to determine the severity of flooding in each neighborhood so we can establish a course of action going forward," said Trantalis.
The mayor said the city manager has dived the city into areas and has placed a staff person as commander over each, they are the ones who are prioritizing needs and responses.
Trantalis said, thankfully, there have been no deaths associated with the storm but they did have two firefighters who were slightly injured when they were shocked by an electrical wire while undertaking rescue efforts.
He said the city's public works crews are focused on three key areas; ensuring the operation of critical infrastructure, the clearing of roadways and arteries, and the cleanup of our neighborhoods.
The mayor said the city's police department is working with the Florida Highway Patrol and its contract partner, Westway Towing, to clear the roads.
"It's been a lot of work. Hundreds of stalled and abandoned cars have been removed from roads, but the work remains, particularly in areas that are flooded, as well as neighborhood streets," said Trantalis.
Westway Towing has been removing cars to its tow lot. Anyone whose car has been towed can reach them at (954) 731-1115.
Trantalis said Fort Lauderdale suffered a major impact from a highly unusual extreme weather event but they are well on their way to recovery with the help that they've received.
