DORAL, Fla. – The cities of Doral, Fort Lauderdale and Hialeah Gardens are going to be distributing sandbags in preparation for flooding brought on by Tropical Depression Eta this weekend into early next week.
After what happened in Doral last May, it’s no surprise that they are planning ahead. Some streets in one Doral warehouse district are already seeing flooding. Imagine the predictions for this weekend of up to 10 inches.
They saw similar rainfall in May and the result was waist-deep water, making some roads impassable.
Access to nearby businesses like one stone and tile store was nearly impossible.
Alan de la Vega who manages the stone and tile warehouse said that last time when there was a lot of rain, there was flooding damage.
“The flooding has always been an issue, but not as big as recently; not across the street, but on this building. We are at street level, so water goes inside the building,” he said.
It has become so bad that they had to devise a self-made barrier to keep the water out.
We met workers from the South Florida Water Management District at one of the pumping stations near Miami International Airport.
The station moves water out of some of Miami-Dade’s residential areas along the c4 canal.
“The South Florida Water Management District has drawn down its canals,” Armando Vilaboy of the South Florida Water Management District said.
On Thursday, water was being moved out of canals so it is at the lowest levels, which creates capacity for incoming storm water. While we were there, we saw crews putting in a temporary pump to increase capacity.
“Typically, it’ll go to areas where you need additional pumping, so sometimes we’ll use mobile pumps over at the water conservation areas just to get more water out at a certain time,” Vilaboy said.
INFO ABOUT SANDBAG DISTRIBUTION
Friday, Nov. 6 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. or until supplies run out: Fort Lauderdale, Mills Pond Park, 2201 N.W. 9th Ave. Limit 10 bags per car. Fort Lauderdale residents only.
Sunday, Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until supplies run out: Hialeah Gardens, 13601 NW 107th Ave., Hialeah Gardnes. Limit up to 5 bags per car. Hialeah Gardens residents only.
Saturday, Nov. 7 and Sunday, Nov. 8 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Doral Central Park sandbag distribution. Next to Downtown Doral Park shovels are available on site for self service.