FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - With winds and rain from Eta expected to hit South Florida over the weekend, residents are preparing for possible flooding.
Cities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties are ensuring their residents are equipped with sandbags.
“The water don’t usually come down to my corner, but now, for some reason, we have a few bumps in the road, and the water is coming down now,” said Gail Dunning. “The water is coming further up in my yard, and my back door is like right there, so I want to protect myself so water don’t come into my home.”
At Mills Pond Park, at 2201 NW 9th Ave., in Fort Lauderdale, residents could be seen making sandbags from a pile of 10 tons of sand provided by the county.
As of noon Friday, more than 2,700 bags have been filled, with 800 being filled in the first hour of being available. All residents are allowed 10 bags per vehicle, and they must bring their own shovel and bags.
Friday night, Tomeka Kemp and Patricia Kemp came to the park to fill up sandbags.
“I’m hoping we don’t get flooded out, because the last hard rain we got, we got completely flooded,” Tomeka said.
“The last hard rain that came, we got flooded, my back porch, and it was coming in our den, and it started to come in our front door,” Patricia said.
On Saturday, Juan Vaquera, who recently moved to Doral from California, said picking up sandbags ahead of a tropical storm or hurricane is all new for him.
“For a second, I was like, ‘What’s going on here?'” he said.
“All it takes is a little bit of rain,” Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Mike Jachles said. “Our ground is so saturated in South Florida. That’s why everybody is taking these precautions.”
Even if South Florida is not directly impacted by Eta, residents said they are still preparing because streets that do not normally flood had high levels of water during last week’s rainfall.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue understands that a November storm may catch some residents off guard, and they are reminding motorists to avoid flooded roads.
“Flooding is inevitable,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesperson Erika Benitez said. “It is never a good idea to walk or drive into flooded areas, as the water may be deeper than it appears.”
The distribution site in Fort Lauderdale has volunteers to help with carrying the bags as they may be too heavy for some residents, as well as to help with filling those sandbags.
“It’s best to be prepared than unprepared,” Patricia Kemp said. “We may not need them, but hopefully, if we do, we’ll have them.”
It remains unclear if more sand will be brought to the site due to the weather.
At the Downtown Doral Park, at 8395 NW 53rd St., a large pile of sand remains for residents to pick up.
“Thank goodness for the sand,” said Chris Guerra. “It’s better safe than sorry, you know. I woke up today looking at the elections on the news and the news just came up, and I was on Channel 7, and it just came up.”
“Facebook, there was a WSVN message actually,” said Jean Elie. “I clicked on it last night while I was watching the presidentials, and I was pretty happy.”
Guerra said the last time there was heavy rainfall, he was not ready, and his shed flooded.
“All my appliances got messed up — my generator, lawnmower,” he said.
“I’ve been through Andrew. I’ve been through Irma. I’ve been through Wilma,” said Elie. “You don’t know. I mean, it’s the freaking weather. You never know.”
The sandbag distribution event will be held in Downtown Doral Park until 7 p.m. Saturday.
Crews in Hallandale Beach spent Friday clearing out bulk garbage, and pumps in Lauderhill are working to push out as much water as possible.
Representatives in Miami Beach said, effective immediately, they are opening all city garages for residents to store their cars as heavy flooding is expected.
Residents can leave their cars in the garages for free until Tuesday, Nov. 10.
For a list of all sandbag distribution sites, click here.
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