A flash flood risk was in effect Thursday after a disorganized storm system flooded much of South Florida (Pictures: Zuma/PA/AP/National Weather Service Miami-South Florida)
The first tropical disturbance of hurricane season has turned streets into rivers across South Florida and a flash flooding risk remains high across the region.
Rare flash floods pummeled Miami, Fort Lauderdale and other parts of the southern Sunshine State on Wednesday as a disorganized storm system swept in from the Gulf of Mexico.
The downpour forced dozens of drivers to abandon their vehicles as they went afloat, closed roads and canceled flights.
‘I got stuck with this car, if that car would move I would move too,’ one driver, Gladys Adriancen, told NBC Miami. ‘I feel so bad, so terrible, this has never happened to me in my life.’
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
The National Weather Service warned of flash flooding possible across South Florida on Thursday (Picture: National Weather Service Miami-South Florida)
Aerial view shows multiple cars stranded on a road in Northeast Miami-Dade County on Thursday (Picture: AP)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was drenched in more than a foot of rain, images showed.
On Thursday morning, the threat of flash flooding was still imminent.
‘An additional round of heavy rainfall is forecast across SFL today as a large convective band of showers & thunderstorms develops & move southward for the 3rd day in a row,’ wrote National Weather Service (NWS) Miami-South Florida on X (formerly Twitter) just after 6am.
‘Even a small duration of heavy rainfall could lead to more flash flooding!’
A man pushes a car out of one of the flooded streets, after 24 hours of continuous rain in South Florida (Picture: Getty Images)
The storm system lingered over South Florida on Thursday after inundating parts of several counties on Wednesday (Picture: X)
Aerial view of a flooded street in Northeast Miami-Dade County on Thursday (Picture: AP)
The NWS shared a radar GIF with the storm system moving across South Florida, as well as an excessive rainfall outlook map showing high risk in areas including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Naples, and slight risk north and south of that including in West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Sarasota.
Shortly before noon, the NWS shared an updated map from its weather prediction center with Miami and Naples still with high risk of excessive rainfall leading to rapid flooding, and Fort Lauderdale in moderate risk.
‘A *HIGH* Risk of Excessive Rainfall (level 4/4 risk) has been issued for the I-75 Corridor. This means that widespread flash flooding is expected,’ wrote the NWS. ‘Locally catastrophic flash flooding is possible.’
Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade and Sarasota counties as more than 25 inches of rain slammed Collier County.
A vehicle sits in flood waters in Hollywood, Florida (Picture: Getty Images)
The National Weather Service stated that ‘even a small duration of heavy rainfall could lead to more flash flooding’ (Picture: National Weather Service Miami-South Florida)
A woman walks barefoot while crossing one of the flooded streets, after 24 hours of continuous rain over South Florida (Picture: Getty Images)
Additionally, the NWS confirmed that an EF-1 tornado struck Hobe Sound in the Atlantic Coast north of West Palm Beach on Wednesday morning.
The tropical disturbance hit during the traditional beginning in early June of the Atlantic hurricane season, which is forecast to be extremely active this year. The storm has not reached hurricane status.
‘Regardless of development,’ the NWS told the Daily Mail, ‘Heavy rainfall is forecast to continue across portions of the Florida peninsula during the next few days.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.