NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Relentless rain pelted Miami-Dade County for hours as a cluster of thunderstorms caused flooding in some homes and even sparked a fire.
Along Northwest Eighth Avenue in Northwest Miami-Dade, the nearly waist-deep floodwaters caused by Tuesday’s downpours trapped Analesa Moncheri and her family in their home.
Moncheri gave 7News a tour of her now waterlogged residence.
“My last room in the house started filling up,” she said in a cellphone video.
The family used blankets and towels to help keep the water out, to no avail.
“See? It’s like rising all through, like, this is the kitchen,” said Moncheri.
7News was forced to interview Moncheri through Zoom because the water was so high. The floodwater around her home was too deep even for the crew’s news truck.
“I don’t know if the water is coming through the walls,” said Moncheri.
Floodwaters also seeped into a home on Northwest 90th Street in Northwest Miami-Dade.
It was a similar story in Sweetwater, where cameras captured water flowing over a front yard and small waves breaking near the front door.
But rain was not the only issue local families had to deal with on Tuesday.
In North Miami Beach, fire crews responded to Jamie Kruger’s home after, she said, a lightning strike triggered a blaze.
“The kids screamed, the dogs were shaking. It just felt like it was rattling,” said Kruger.
The homeowner believes a bolt of lighting hit so close to her home, it sent a surge to her electric stove.
Kruger said a fire sparked inside her oven, even though she wasn’t cooking.
The sudden bolt definitely startled Miguel, her 8-year-old son.
When asked if the lightning scared him, the boy replied, “Yes.”
At first, Miguel added, he thought it was an earthquake.
Tuesday’s precipitation marked the third consecutive day of wicked weather across South Florida.
The cloudy skies cleared briefly in the evening. Cameras even captured a rainbow breaking through the clouds.
However, for most of the day, car wipers couldn’t work fast enough.
“I guess you can see for yourself That’s terrible,” said driver Karla Metiz. “I’m out because I have to be for work, but otherwise I’d be at home, of course.
The floodwaters near Moncheri’s began to recede late Tuesday night, but they’re still deep enough to cause drivers attempting to drive through her neighborhood to turn around.
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