Maps and photos show massive rainfall in Florida as flooded communities face ongoing downpours

A relentless series of powerful storms drenched much of South Florida this week and today’s forecasts predict that large amounts of rain will continue to hit parts of the state through Friday.

As images emerged of children crossing the streets of South Florida in an inflatable raft, of adults wading through knee-deep water covering neighborhood blocks, and of cars idling while submerged and stuck in the middle of roads, meteorologists warned Thursday that up to 20 centimeters more rain could accumulate in low-lying areas before the weekend.

Officials said about 20 inches fell Thursday afternoon at Hallandale Beach, near Fort Lauderdale. Videos from the Broward County community showed cars submerged up to their hoods.

Seven million people in South Florida were under a flood watch or advisory on Thursday, with forecasters projecting the most severe weather for counties previously hit by previous deluges in recent days.

Which communities in Florida will be impacted?

A tropical disturbance triggered a rare flash flood emergency warning on the tip of the Florida peninsula on Thursday. Parts of South Florida, some of which were hit hardest by heavy rain and flooding earlier in the week, were bracing for another 4 to 8 inches of rain by Friday, NEXT Weather meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez said on CBS NewsMiami.

National Weather Service meteorologists upgraded their risk profile for excessive rainfall in southernmost areas of Florida to “high” on Thursday morning, explaining in a bulletin that the update was responsible “for the significant impacts expected with the next round of heavy rainfall in extremely sensitive areas that include the urban corridor in southeast Florida through the I-75 corridor over Alligator Alley.”

Named after the reptiles that also inhabit the land, Alligator Alley runs horizontally across the Florida peninsula, from Fort Lauderdale on the Atlantic coast to Naples on the Gulf coast. Florida wildlife officials said alligators and other wildlife could become more visible in neighborhoods flooded after a hurricane or tropical storm. It was not immediately clear whether the current floods would bring them to the same extent.

Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for several southern counties on Wednesday, while Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis individually issued emergency declarations for their jurisdictions in response to torrential rain and flooding, which caused cars to stop and flights at two major airports to a halt.

These declarations trigger a set of emergency management protocols that allow authorities, whether at the local or state level, or both, to access funds and other resources to respond to weather conditions. With the declaration in Miami, the city also created sandbag distribution sites for residents to place outside their doors and windows to block water, and opened nine public parking lots for people in flood-prone areas. leave their cars. .

Another state of emergency was declared for the cities of Dania Beach and Sunny Isles Beach, as police and firefighters said they performed at least 40 rescues in Dania Beach amid Wednesday’s storms, CBS News Miami reported. Photos and videos from Dania Beach showed streets completely flooded, with water levels in some cases as high as car tires.

Many of these cities and counties braced for continued storms throughout Thursday, and a flood warning was in effect for Miami-Dade and Broward counties until 4 a.m. ET Friday morning.

How much rain is forecast for Florida?

The storms have already dumped large amounts of rain across much of South Florida, with the latest precipitation reports suggesting up to 20 inches fell in parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Those totals were just below the record rainfall totals recorded in the state over the past three days, which exceeded 2 feet of rain in the Everglades. Along the Gulf Coast, reports show that at least 6 or 18 inches fell in several counties this week, and as much as 25 or 28 inches in several of them.

Wednesday’s rainfall set new records in several places, including some as far north as Fort Myers and Winter Haven Regional Airport, the latter of which is halfway between Tampa Bay and Orlando, according to the weather service. . In Fort Myers, the city’s latest rainfall of 3.86 inches surpassed the 2008 record of 2.14 inches. Precipitation records in Fort Myers date back more than a century.

New rainfall totals in Fort Myers and surrounding areas could potentially surpass that record, forecasters say 2 to 4 inches of rain had already fallen in the area early Thursday afternoon, and between 1 and 2 centimeters more were expected.

Another pile of precipitation, potentially 6 to 10 inches, could fall on parts of Southwest Florida during the rest of the week, they added, and the Weather Prediction Center noted that even larger amounts could accumulate in isolated areas along the coast. . and extends inland to the interior of the peninsula. The Southwest Flood Watch was set to expire at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night.

A Flood watch was in effect for communities along a nearly 100-mile stretch of Florida’s Gulf Coast, stretching from Tampa Bay to Fort Myers and extending inland about the same distance at certain points in the observation area east of Sarasota. Forecasters said parts of coastal Sarasota County, which lies just below Tampa Bay, felt the brunt of Gulf Coast weather on Wednesday, with 6 to 10 inches of rain recorded in several spots. One rain report showed nearly 11.4 inches at one location in Sarasota.

Despite the significant rainfall that has already hit West Florida and the additional totals expected, forecasters said widespread flooding would likely not materialize as precipitation would occur in streams and in the intervals between water drainage. The main concern was localized flooding and potentially flooding in urban areas. “Heavy rain is expected over the weekend. This can sometimes lead to minor nuisance flooding in low-lying areas with poor drainage,” NWS Tampa Bay said Tuesday in a social media post.

The agency advised drivers in the area to avoid flooded roads – according to Data from the National Weather Servicenearly half of all flood-related deaths in the United States each year involve vehicles.

Although southernmost counties on the Florida peninsula were expected to see the most damaging rainfall on Thursday and Friday, forecasters also warned that the proximity of certain locations closer to the Gulf Coast could still face substantial threats of more heavy rain and flooding, especially in areas where the ground is already saturated from previous storms. They said their biggest concerns for Southwest Florida could come to fruition sometime Thursday afternoon, when warmer overall temperatures are likely to destabilize weather systems and trigger a series of showers and storms.