Hours after South Florida was hit with unprecedented showers and thunderstorms, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency for Broward County.
As a result, the Florida Department of Emergency and Management deployed staff to support local officials throughout the county.
Rainfall totals of 4-8 inches have fallen over southeastern Broward County and northeastern Miami-Dade County, with the heaviest rainfall amounts of 15-25 inches estimated through the Fort Lauderdale metro area.
Other state efforts include:
Department of Transportation
- FDOT is pumping flood waters at multiple locations including the New River Tunnel (US 1).
- FDOT is providing maintenance of traffic for roadway closures and working with Broward County on traffic signal outages.
- FDOT has posted messaging to digital signage advising of the airport closure and road closures caused by flooding in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
- FDOT is activating damage assessment survey applications in FDOT District 4.
- Hollywood International Airport remains closed due to weather conditions.
Florida Highway Patrol
- FHP is increasing staffing to coordinate coverage in response to the flooding and in anticipation of additional storms forecasted in the area.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission
- FWC has deployed three swamp buggies, two high lift UTVs, and 15 4×4 trucks to aid response.
- FWC is currently supporting Broward County Fire Rescue and the Broward County EOC to respond to high water levels in Ft. Lauderdale.
- FWC has deployed a 15-officer team in high water vehicles to assist with welfare checks, neighborhood patrols, non-emergency evacuations and calls for service.
Department of Education
- All Broward County Public Schools and District offices are closed on Thursday. All afterschool activities, events, and extracurricular activities have also been canceled. The district has yet to determine if schools will open or remain closed for Friday.
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