CUTLER BAY, Fla. – Residents of a Cutler Bay neighborhood continued to deal with “catastrophic” flood waters Tuesday morning, with some forced to remain in their homes amid inundated streets.
It comes days after a tropical system dumped heavy amounts of rain across South Florida and flooded the Saga Bay neighborhood in Cutler Bay, but residents told Local 10 News that the worst of the flooding actually came after the storm, following heavy rainfall Monday.
“It flooded over the weekend with the storm, but it didn’t get this bad then the flash flood came in in the afternoon and it was bad,” resident David Gonzalez said.
@WPLGLocal10 @ClayWPLG @GlennaWPLG @BrandonOrrWPLG 11 inches on the road videoshot june 6, at 2:15 pm #cutlerbay #sagabay pic.twitter.com/JWEpbkTzwd
— jorge mario gomez (@elcerve0) June 7, 2022
Video taken by Local 10 News and viewers shows streets inundated and both cars and people navigating through high water.
“If you don’t have a truck you’re stuck,” resident Jimmy Cinicollo said. “For sure. I didn’t even want to cross in this truck.”
Senior citizens and pets appear to be especially affected.
View from SW 196th Street in @townofcutlerbay. Only high-profile vehicles are able to pass through. Residents with smaller cars are getting stuck in high flood waters. Blue crossover SUV appears to have stalled, now waiting on a tow. @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/iHmYD23E2f
— Trent Kelly (@TrentKellyWPLG) June 7, 2022
Town officials said they are working to get the water out as quickly as possible, but there is no quick fix.
They said water typically drains into a lake, but has overflowed to the point where one resident said the entire neighborhood is now part of the lake.
“I’ve lived in this area since 1964, been through some of the major storms and this is something that is catastrophic,” Tim Meerbott, Cutler Bay’s mayor said. “The flooding, I haven’t seen it before and it’s not so much the issue the water coming in, it’s just it’s not going out. Unfortunately, the only thing is going to get this out of here is gravity. We don’t have enough pumps in the world to get this water gone.”
Our @TrentKellyWPLG is there and has been for you to get help for you all. Also the emergency officials to help https://t.co/t58MsmEvVg
— Julie Durda (@JulieDurdaWPLG) June 7, 2022
The town tweeted Monday night that it is working to secure additional pump trucks and assistance and that the South Florida Water Management district continues to draw down canals.
We're working with the County to secure additional pump trucks and help. Additionally, the South Florida Water Management District is continuously drawing down the canal water levels when possible, which alleviates flooding in the area.
— Town of Cutler Bay (@townofcutlerbay) June 6, 2022
Residents are being urged to stay home.
“Please stay in your homes, don’t try to drive through the floods. It’s going to ruin your cars, total it out,” Meerbott said.