Severe weather in Florida impacting Philadelphia travelers
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Severe weather in South Florida is having a major impact on travelers leaving Philadelphia International Airport.
After downpours that led to flooding, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was closed.
It's time for vacations and spring break and for many traveling south, but this weather is changing their plans.
The tarmac was flooded at the South Florida airport Wednesday night.
The roads surrounding the airport are also swamped, leaving many people stuck in their cars trying to get there.
The city activated its emergency operations center and secured airboats to conduct any rescues.
Some people even had to abandon their cars while trying to get to the airport.
Even with this rain, some flyers took some desperate measures to make their flights, including two people who got out on the side of the road and hiked their luggage up a hill.
Later Thursday, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport announced it would be closed through 5 a.m. Friday, April 14.
"This will allow airport staff to work to restore partial operations on one runway, providing current conditions do not worsen."
Effects at PHL
If you are traveling to Fort Lauderdale or picking someone up from the airport today, check FlightAware.com or the Philadelphia International Airport website, PHL.org.
A total of 13 flights between Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia are scheduled Thursday, the websites show. Ten of those flights are canceled.
"This morning I get up at about 3:30, get a cup of coffee and I look at my phone, and my flight was canceled from Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale," traveler Joe Wigginton said. He scrambled and got on the phone, and changed his travel plans. Now he's going from Philadelphia to New Orleans, and from there, flying to Miami.
"I was ready to go to Florida, although the weather's probably better here," traveler Donna Maples said.
"I'm getting out of here," another traveler said. "I'm not canceling that, I don't care if the whole place was flooded."
Some of the cancellations show flights from American and Spirit are canceled through at least 3:40 p.m. this afternoon.
Intense storm dumps 3 inches of rain per hour
Radar estimates showed 11 to 12 inches of rain in the Fort Lauderdale area, with up to 17 inches closer to the coast.
Meteorologist Kate Bilo says there are localized spots in Fort Lauderdale that may have seen as much as 2 feet of rain. The storm was dropping as much as 3 inches of rain per hour.
One supercell storm lingered directly over Fort Lauderdale for hours, our NEXT Weather radar shows.
