FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - South Florida residents woke up to find their neighborhoods flooded, one day after Hurricane Nicole caused higher than usual king tides as it blew through the region with high winds and heavy downpours.
A pump in Hollywood on Thursday moved water from a neighborhood into the Intracoastal Waterway, as residents dealt with seasonal king tides and storm surge from the rare November hurricane.
The king tides flooded boat ramps in the Haulover Inlet hours after Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 storm just south of Vero Beach, early Thursday morning.
Down in Miami, drivers navigated across floodwaters along the always vulnerable Northeast 10th Avenue.
The commute to work in Dania Beach was no better. A dashcam captured a white pickup truck slowly making its way across flooding on A1A.
Residents in Broward neighborhoods susceptible to king tides struggled with more extensive flooding than what they’re accustomed to this time of year.
However, a flooded street in Fort Lauderdale’s Rio Vista neighborhood did not prevent a resident from walking her dog.
However, Fort Lauderdale resident Alan Leeds found quite the obstacle when he encountered heavy flooding in the section of Northeast 20th Avenue and Seventh Street that he’s called home for the past 17 years.
When asked to describe what he saw earlier in the day, the 84-year-old did not mince words.
“The street was a killer. It was bad,” he said. “I’m telling you, it was up to your shin.”
Leeds’ neighbors also found the king tides difficult to deal with.
“These are mostly senior citizens,” he said.
But riding his motorized wheelchair, Leeds waded in all the same.
“I just went in the water a little bit to get onto the walk. Once I got on the walk, I was fine,” he said. “There was water there, too, but I’m going slow. I’m not looking [to create] waves.”
Police shut down he section of Northeast 20th Avenue and Seventh Street to vehicular traffic because as of late Thursday night, the water was at least ankle deep.
In Fort Lauderdale Beach, bicyclists caused ripples as they made their way across heavy flooding. Aerial cameras captured mushy sand sprawled across a nearby intersection.
“It’s pretty common whenever there’s a big storm. It’s pretty common,” said an area resident.
In Pompano Beach, king tides were blamed for flooding a parking garage on Riverside Drive. A foot of water had supplies floating out of the storage area.
Low tide on Thursday afternoon caused some of the flooding to recede in parts of Broward County. However, high tide late Thursday night caused the water levels to rise again.
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