Much of South Florida was submerged in a barrage of strong storms this week, and the forecast for Friday indicated that more rain would continue to submerge portions of the state. Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties are under a state of emergency, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Even modest quantities of precipitation could exacerbate saturated regions and lead to further flash floods on Friday, the National Weather Service warned. Due to flooding, staff members and patients at a Fort Myers cancer hospital were left trapped on Thursday afternoon, according to CBS affiliate WINK-TV. Pictures surfaced showing kids floating through South Florida streets on an inflatable raft, adults wading through neighborhood blocks covered in knee-deep water, and cars that stalled in the middle of the road, submerged and stranded.
Which Florida communities will be affected?
A rare flash flood emergency alert was issued across the tip of the Florida peninsula on Thursday due to a tropical storm. The National Weather Service’s meteorologists revised the risk profile for excessive rainfall in the southernmost parts of Florida to “moderate” early on Friday morning. They stated in a bulletin that “even moderate rain rates are likely to cause additional flash flooding, as any rainfall will be unable to drain anywhere, and will instead pond in place.” After a hurricane or tropical storm, alligators and other wildlife may be easier to spot in flooded communities, according to Florida wildlife officials. Whether the present flooding would draw them out in the same way was not immediately obvious.
How much precipitation is expected in Florida?
Much of southern Florida has already received enormous amounts of rain from storms; according to the most recent figures, nearly 20 inches of precipitation fell in some areas of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The state’s record rainfall total over the past three days, which exceeded two feet of rain in the Everglades, was just eclipsed by these totals. According to reports, some counties along the Gulf Coast received at least 6 or 7 inches of rain this week, and some of them received as much as 10 or 11 inches.
According to the meteorological service, this week’s rainfall broke records in a few locations, including as far north as Fort Myers and the Winter Haven Regional Airport, which is roughly midway between Tampa Bay and Orlando. The city of Fort Myers recently saw 5.44 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, surpassing the 3.86 inches earlier in the week and its record-breaking 2.14 inches from 2008.Fort Myers has been recording precipitation for over a century.The majority of the Gulf Coast weather was felt on Wednesday in coastal Sarasota County, which is located directly below Tampa Bay, according to meteorologists. There were reports of 6 to 10 inches of rain in some locations. A Sarasota site reported receiving over 11.4 inches of rain.
Meteorologists warned that even though the most destructive rainfall was predicted for the Florida counties on the southernmost tip of the peninsula on Friday, there was still a significant risk of more heavy rain and flooding in some areas closer to the Gulf Coast, particularly in areas where the ground had already been saturated by previous storms.