HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Residents in flood-prone areas of Broward County are already seeing standing water on some roads as the impact from Hurricane Milton begins to be felt in the area.
There have been extremely gusty winds kicking up the surf and battering palm trees, but that isn’t stopping people from heading to Hollywood Beach.
“It’s very nasty outside,” said Kim Hudson, who works at a Subway along the beach.
Nasty for sure, but despite the weather, the famed Hollywood Broadwalk is still filled with people exercising and walking.
One couple visiting is visiting from Texas and didn’t expect the weather to be like this, but they are no strangers to storms.
“I’m not scared, not scared at all,” said Anastacia Headley.
The Hall family decided to use the weather as a great photo opportunity.
“We are going to take a picture where it look like they are flying away,” said Landon Hall.
His son Cruz Hall said he just wanted to see the beach.
“We want to see the cool waves and the dolphins jumping out the water,” said Cruz Hall, who wasn’t as big of a fan of the sand. “It hurts! It gets all over your skin.”
Thankfully, no one was in the water, as lifeguards have the red flags up indicating rough conditions.
Businesses are still welcoming people in, with some taking precaution with sandbags.
Hudson said her restaurant would close early due to the weather.
“We are closing at six, just to be home safe with our families,” she said.
Local 10 News heard that from a few business owners who said they will stay open for now, but might close early if the conditions get worse.
Gusty winds came in along Fort Lauderdale Beach as the effects of Hurricane Milton were felt strong in South Florida.
Restaurants along A1A just north of Las Olas Boulevard were open for business and while normally pretty busy, Wednesday they were pretty empty.
That is with the exception of Elbo Room, which always draws a crowd, rain or shine.
Lori Wingard and her friends evacuated Punta Gorda and came to seek refuge in Fort Lauderdale.
“The effects of the wind will be one thing, but surge is huge,” she said.
With damaging winds and severe weather expected from Hurricane Milton across the state, power crews and linemen have staged in South Florida, ready to be dispatched wherever they are needed.
“We do expect prolonged outages even in areas like Miami-Dade and Broward where there could be some strong winds,” said FPL spokesperson Bianca Soriano.
There are some South Florida residents who do not have power.
According to FPL, there are around 2,400 homes without power in Miami-Dade County, around 1,200 in Broward County and around 17,500 in Palm Beach County.
Crews said they will restore power as soon as they are able to.