MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami Beach residents are boarding up and preparing for Hurricane Dorian’s arrival while the storm churns in the Atlantic Ocean.
The storm’s arrival over the holiday weekend could mean flooded out streets, whether South Florida suffers a direct hit or not.
“We are not taking any chances,” Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales said. “We’re getting our facilities ready — our pump facilities — we are planning as if the storm were going to be here Monday morning.”
Along the coast of Florida, the dangers of the incoming storm depends on the king tide. King tide is a natural and predictable occurrence, and it is when the tides are the highest. The tide happens when the moon is close to Earth, which will happen on Friday.
Alan Dodd, the Director of Miami’s Department of Resilience and Public Works, said the city has been preparing for the incoming king tide.
“We’ve been working on preparing for king tide in the last month,” Dodd said.
Another concern is the storm surge resulting from the hurricane. The surge is fast, deadly and causes severe flooding.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma brought white-cap waves to the streets of Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. The waters in Biscayne Bay also rose in less than an hour.
City of Miami officials are hoping for the best, but they know things could get ugly.
“If there is significant rainfall, we may experience flooding — or temporary flooding — throughout the city,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said.
The city is working to reduce flooding by cleaning and clearing the city’s pipe system.
Water, whether from floods, tides or surges, is sometimes more of a threat than 100 mph winds.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency released a reminder about severe storm surge swells and highlighted the horrors from Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle.
“We can build these houses to withstand 130 mile per hour winds. We cannot build them to stop water,” a FEMA spokesperson said.
Storm surge and king tide could impact Miami Beach and other vulnerable coastal cities in the area.
“This storm is a major rain event coinciding with king tides this weekend,” Morales said. “On Miami Beach, we’re always thinking about how we deal with the flooding.”
However, some local businesses are preparing to ride out the storm.
“We hope that it is not going to be so strong,” Mary Frenger said. “That’s the only thing. We don’t know exactly if it is going to be really strong here. I suppose we’re not going to open.”
As a precaution, both Miami and Miami Beach are adding backup generators and temporary pumping stations for possible floods.
Experts said the king tide could add a couple of feet to the storm surge, almost as if the storm was one category higher.
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