Tropical weather brings heavy rains, flooding to Fla.
ORLANDO, Fla. —The first tropical threat of the hurricane season in Florida drenched the southern part of the state, leaving behind flooded streets, motorists calling for help from stranded cars and even a sewage overflow.
In Miami, drivers faced slashing rains and flooded streets throughout Saturday. The city’s fire department responded to several people caught in cars amid the rising waters. Six high-water vehicles were deployed in the city, the department said on Twitter. Winds of 40 mph did not meet the threshold necessary for the system to be classified as Tropical Storm Alex, but they did slosh water into the downtown area, including in parking areas of condominiums.
The storm has brought more than 10 inches of rain to Miami over a 72-hour span, according to AccuWeather, but other areas saw higher totals, including Key Largo (11 inches) and Biscayne Park (11.6 inches). There was also reported flooding in communities outside Miami, including Hialeah and Hollywood, as well as in Naples, on the Gulf Coast.
Power outages did not soar overnight, however. As of 9 a.m. Saturday, MiamiDade County had 4,083 outages, according to PowerOutage. although that number had dropped to 3,111 by early afternoon. The surrounding counties of Broward and Palm Beach reported 1,947 and 1,046, respectively.
To the west, Collier County, home of well-populated Naples, had 226 outages reported at 9 a.m., but only two by 11: 30 a.m. Lee County, farther north along the Gulf Coast, had 47. By noon, all tropical warnings were canceled in most of southwest Florida as the storm pounded the Treasure Coast, in the southeastern region, according to the National Weather Service.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, the storm was centered about 15 miles south-southwest of Fort Pierce, Fla. It was moving northeast at 18 mph. A tropical storm warning was in effect along the state’s east coast south of the Volusia-Brevard County line to Jupiter Inlet and the northwestern Bahamas. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Bermuda.
The storm was expected to reach tropical storm strength off Florida’s eastern coast by Saturday night and is expected to strengthen through Monday as it moves away from Florida and into the AtlanticOcean.
Air traffic delays and cancellations continued throughout the state Saturday afternoon, including at all three major airports in South Florida.
Nearly 90 flights were affected Saturday afternoon at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Just before 4 p.m., there were about 28 flight cancellations — eight arrivals and 28 departures. About 63 flights were delayed — 29 arrivals and 34 departures.
Goncalo Gil, 26, stayed inside as streets clogged with water outside his apartment in the Miami neighborhood of Brickell. Mr. Gil, a student pilot, who posted a video of flooded streets on Twitter, wondered if the city’s floodprevention system, which included stormwater pumps and sea walls, had worked as intended. “From midnight, everywhere was flooded, every car was stalled,” he said.
Kash Kashmiri, 30, arrived at the store he manages, Total Nutrition, in Brickell by 10 a.m. and found water inside its sandbagged entryway. He fretted over whether to allow a customer inside the store and eventually offered to gather products for him and perform a cash transaction at the front door.
“Normal down here is where there’s a heavy storm, you can expect slight flooding,” he said by phone. “Any kind of tropical storm, you can expect flooding for sure.”
More than two hours into Mr. Kashmiri’s shift, the rain picked up again, and he noticed people in the area tying down furniture.
Warnings about continued possible weather risks remained for the weekend.
“The main threat right now is the potential for heavy rainfall and flash flooding,” Maria Torres, a spokesperson for the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Friday.
Early Saturday, the center warned of “considerable flash and urban flooding” in South Florida. Rainfall totals were expected to be wide-ranging as the storm was forecast to travel toward Bermuda, possibly causing high currents along the Atlantic coast as it moved away from the mainland.
The forecast for Florida included the possibility of tornadoes over the southern portion of the state through Saturday. The hurricane center also said some cities in the state could see a storm surge of up to 3 feet.
People who live in parts of South Florida that are prone to floods should identify a safe place to go to if waters begin to rise, and be careful not to drive through standing water, Ms. Torres said Friday.
“Turn around, don’t drown,” she said.