BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Several roads were still underwater Thursday morning after a day of heavy rain caused major flooding in parts of Broward County.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane spoke with Local 10 News in Hallandale Beach Thursday morning to discuss the type of calls his department has received in the last 48 hours.
“Most of the calls that we’ve been responding to since about 2 p.m. yesterday, up until midnight, have been weather-related emergencies,” Kane said. “Most of those emergencies involve people stranded in their vehicles, unable to get out of the rising waters.”
“The weather has left many people stranded after being unable to escape their vehicles,” Kane added. “They have no choice but to call 911 and make a request for fire rescue to come, remove them from their vehicle and take them to safety.”
“Is that a good type of 911 call?” asked Local 10 News reporter Hannah Yechivi.
“If you’re in that situation, you’re in dire straits, you need to call 911 as soon as possible because those waters are going to continue to rise and you may become trapped,” said Kane.
Kane also provided safety tips for people who are stuck in flooded situations.
“One of the things you want to be mindful of is if you don’t have power, you want to be especially careful because (of) when that power comes on,” he said. “If there’s any power lines that may be down in some standing water, that standing water becomes electrified. You can become electrocuted and your day is going to go from bad to worse.”
Kane also urged that drivers should be extremely careful when they see bodies of water.
“As flood waters rise, that road may become washed out, and that 3 feet of water that you’re in may become 8 to 12 feet of water,” said Kane. “You may drive into a canal. You may drive into a lake, especially if you’re unfamiliar with that area. The best thing to do is not drive at all, stay home, go to a place, seek refuge and stay there until the water subsides and recedes.”
Sky 10 flew over the scene of Hallandale Beach where main roadways remained covered with water and cars struggled to move around the area.
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“Hallandale Beach took the brunt of the storm,” said Kane. “We received about 19 inches of water, which is quite the amount of water and we performed five rescues and rescued seven people using out boats.”
“In the words of our city manager, we’re throwing everything at the storm,” Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper told Local 10 News Wednesday. “We’re seeing a storm to the likes of last year in April, those inches of rain just inundating every inch of our city.”
Several vehicles in Hallandale Beach were almost completely covered by water and abandoned.
Local 10 News also spoke with a man named William, a Hallandale Beach mobile homeowner who says his home is situated below the main road so once it rains, the water slides down into the mobile homes in the area.
Earlier Wednesday, flooding caused Hallandale Beach City Hall and the Cultural Center to close early.
“What we are telling people is if you are in danger, call 911,” said Cooper.
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