PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – After Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency this week, Kevin Guthrie, the management director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said during This Week In South Florida on Sunday that over 100 temporary pumps were in place within 12 hours to remove over 13 million gallons of water from the flooded areas.
Guthrie said the state was working to get assistance from President Joe Biden’s administration to help people recover from the disaster. He said a U.S. Small Business Administration declaration could make loans available, but getting help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was unlikely.
“It doesn’t look like we are going to be in those numbers of thousands ... to actually get the FEMA declaration,” Guthrie said.
Guthrie also said the pockets of flooding were in northern Miami-Dade County, and in Hallandale Beach, and portions of Hollywood in Broward County. Teams were still assessing the damage on Sunday.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
Pete Gomez, the management director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Emergency Management, said he was in contact with Guthrie during the flooding emergency Gomez said he was in contact with Guthrie during the flooding emergency, and it didn’t get to the point that the county had to request assistance from FEMA.
Gomez said the flooding was mostly in the county’s northeastern corridor, which got about 22 inches of rain over 72 hours when the old stormwater systems were not designed to handle that level of rainfall. Gomez said the Aventura, North Miami Beach, and North Miami areas felt the most impact.
Gomez added that some of the 24 municipalities in Miami-Dade County were proactive and requested help even before the flooding happened after the National Weather Service issued early warnings.
“Miami Beach early on was requesting temporary pumps, and we provided temporary pumps either through our department of transportation and public works, or we requested temporary pumps,” Gomez said.
BROWARD COUNTY
Clay Pacheco, the management director of the Broward County Office of Emergency Management, said Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, and Pembroke Park got over 20 inches of rain.
“Especially the low-lying areas, quite a bit of trailer homes, and trailer parks, a lot of transient folks felt the brunt of it in those neighborhoods,” Pacheco said.
Pacheco said residents affected by the flash flooding event need to contact their municipality’s public works department so those local officials can request help from the county.
MORE ON THIS WEEK IN SOUTH FLORIDA
- Interview with Steadman Stahl, the president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, about the recent indictment of four Miami-Dade police officers for their actions during a fatal shooting in 2019.
- Interview with Lori Alhadeff, the mother of 14-year-old Alyssa, one of the students killed during a mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Her activism after the tragedy includes serving as a member of the Broward County School Board, and founding Make Our Schools Safe.
MORE ON SEVERE WEATHER
New system could bring tropical threat to Florida this week
Local 10 News Weather Authority Hurricane Specialist and Storm Surge Expert: Things can change quickly in the tropics, and with formation areas closer to the U.S., it’s always worth a daily check-in. Our forecast models reminded us of this over the weekend as they quickly latched on to a new system east of the Bahamas for possible development in the days ahead. READ MORE >
Complete coverage of flooding
CLICK HERE for the latest weather updates from Local 10 News Weather Authority.