MIAMI – Miami city workers cleared storm drains and pumped water out of low-lying portions of the Edgewater neighborhood that had been inundated by flooding the day prior.
About 2 feet of water had been pumped out in a particularly hard-hit area, around Northeast 23rd Street, as of around noon Thursday. The city deployed two mobile pumps to the area.
With more rain on the way, however, several residents placed sandbags at their doors.
One woman said while flood water levels did not reach her home, passing vehicles have created a wake that pushes water inside.
Another resident, Javier Beunza, said he was watching the water rising inch by inch Wednesday.
“(Expletive), if it would have kept raining like it was during the day, it would have been like that,” he said. “A couple of hours, I would have had water up to my ankles inside the house.”
Officials said there’s a long-term plan to have a permanent pump installed in the area, but until that is installed, residents — who worry about the rain to come — will have to continue dealing with flooding.
“The concern that we have today is getting this area in a better condition so that when rains do come this afternoon we don’t see what we had yesterday and really what we had yesterday was a blanket of water just smothering us,” Juvenal Santana, Miami’s director of resilience and public works, said.
SANDBAG GIVEAWAYS
Miami: Sandbags will be given out to city of Miami residents at the Little Haiti Soccer Park until 2 p.m. Thursday. The park is located at 6301 NE Second Ave. Residents must present a valid ID.
Opa-locka: Sandbags will be given out to Opa-locka residents from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the Opa-locka Public Works Department, located at 12950 NW 42nd Ave.
CLICK HERE for the latest weather updates from Local 10′s Weather Authority.