DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie held a press conference Saturday to discuss flood recovery efforts after a historic rainstorm left many homes damaged in Broward County.
Fort Lauderdale and other communities across southeast Florida are working to get life back to normal after monumental flooding wreaked havoc on the area, closing transportation hubs, schools and government offices.
Sky 10 flew over Broward County neighborhoods Saturday morning as flooding from Wednesday night’s record rainfall still lingering is over two days later.
In many areas throughout Broward, the streets still filled with water.
“I had 21 inches of water in my area,” said Fort Lauderdale resident John Becker.
In addition to the flooding, many drivers across Miami-Dade and Broward Counties have encountered issues with finding and purchasing gas.
The flooding hazards have made it difficult for gas to be delivered, with long lines seen snaking out of gas stations and onto roadways throughout South Florida, from Fort Lauderdale to Kendall.
On Saturday, Guthrie discussed what response teams have done in the last 48 hours.
“Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rescue crews have deployed four swamp buggies, two high-lift UTV’s, 15 4x4 trucks and deployed an additional officer high water team to assist with neighborhoods like Edgewood in Fort Lauderdale to help residents,” Guthrie confirmed Saturday.
Officials said that they’ve received over 600 calls for service in Fort Lauderdale’s Edgewood neighborhood.
He said the FWC has responded to “hundreds” of rescues in assisting families with evacuating their homes.
According to Guthrie, there were no reported fatalities in the Fort Lauderdale area due to the excessive flooding.
Crews are continuing going home-to-home in swamp buggies to check on flooded-in residents.
Hundreds of state emergency response team crew members have been helping with installing water pumps to extract the excess water.
The Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Highway Patrol have assisted with fixing all the traffic lights that were affected by the storm.
Guthrie said there are multiple areas in Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach that still has about 18 inches or more of standing water remaining from the flood.
Officials said on Friday, water levels were around three feet and the South Florida Water Management District is continuing to manage the water in the overflooded areas.
Guthrie said he is working to get teams to conduct a “joint damage assessment,” to evaluate areas that have been affected, but said that it does not mean that it will lead to a federal disaster declaration.
Those affected by the floods also running into another problem as they clean up as many gas stations around the area are out of gas with others only offering premium gas.
“A couple of gas stations I’ve been to have signs on them that they’re out,” said Becker.
Broward County Mayor Lamar P. Fisher said in a news release they are working on offloading fuel to deliver to gas stations throughout Broward County.
“Recovery efforts for the fuel companies at Port Everglades are proceeding following Wednesday’s extraordinary storm. There is an adequate supply of fuel in storage, in addition to several tanker ships in port and offshore waiting to offload more fuel.”
“Petroleum tankers that transport diesel and gasoline are in position at the port to load and deliver to gas stations in the region. However, the public may experience some delivery delays, which is typical following natural disasters. While there are companies that are still recovering from the storm due to excessive rain and flooding, others are operational. Fuel deliveries are expected to increase over the coming days,” he said.
Officials monitoring the situation say the waters have receded about half since their peak on Wednesday night.
“Pockets in Dania Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Edgewood are at 18 inches of standing water. Yesterday, it was at three feet, said Florida Department of Transportation District Secretary Gerry O’Reilly.
Officials said they hope that low tides, combined with efforts to pump water, mean the levels will continue to subside.
“We will be focusing on pumping out more water in the next 24 hours in the state system before the next storm may hit on Sunday night and Monday morning,” said O’Reilly.
Officials and emergency response crews are trying to get neighborhoods back in order before another weather system moves in next week.
Dania Beach Mayor A.J. Ryan IV said he visit the homes of many residents, business owners in the area and encouraged others that pump trucks are on the way to the areas that need it most.
Guthrie was also joined by P.E., Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lieutenant Colonel Alfredo Escanio and FWC Captain Andy Carcasses.
To watch the press conference, click the play button in the video below.
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