Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
This wet season’s an overachiever
King tides plus storms equal record rainfall, floods
Strong winds, showers and a full moon Thursday intensified the highest tides of the year in South Florida, with leftover storm debris still clogging many drains.
The wet weather and king tides together are making for some of the the worst coastal flooding residents say they’ve seen in years.
From June through September, South Florida Water Management District’s 16-county region received an average of 44.19 inches of rain, capped by more than 8.5 inches from Hurricane Irma — the highest total for the period in 86 years of record keeping.
Morning commuters in Dania Beach drove through salt water on their way to work as homeowners surveyed flooded front yards and inundated sea walls on
the isles of Fort Lauderdale and along Marine Way in Delray Beach.
Ed Fitzgerald, 64, of Delray Beach, stood in water up past his ankles at least 50 feet from the Intracoastal Waterway. The salt water rose over the sea wall, spilling into the street and spreading as far as the backyard beside where Fitzgerald lives.
“Normally, it isn’t this bad,” said Fitzgerald, who lives on Marine Way.
“Normally it just gets my grass wet in the front yard there.”
While higherthan-normal tides happen regularly throughout the year, king tides usually arrive in fall as an alignment of the sun and moon creates a stronger gravitational pull.
Thursday’s “harvest moon” — the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox — also contributed to the tides.
The twice-daily flooding will continue through the weekend as will a 50 percent to 60 percent chance for rains, said meteorologist Chris Fisher.
“The ground is pretty saturated right now,” Fisher said.
Between 1.5 and 3 inches of rain is forecast to fall between late Wednesday night and this morning — though it could be higher, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.
It’s not clear whether the tide itself is higher than in previous years because of all the rain, Fisher said.
“It’s kind of difficult to say, but we have seen some pretty good flooding, like 6 to 8 inches in the Brickell area,” around Miami.
Fort Lauderdale saw water in low-lying areas that typically flood including Cordova Road, Mola Avenue, Hendricks Isle, San Marco Drive and Isle of Palms Drive, said Shannon Vezina, Fort Lauderdale spokeswoman.
Stan Redick stood on his front lawn on Southeast 25th Avenue, about two blocks south of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and watched waves lap into his yard as cars drove past.
He has owned his home for 20 years and he’s never seen the tides rise this far, he said.
Debris left from Hurricane Irma, piled on the side of the road in some cities, further complicated flooding, damming drainage and spreading out into the water in places including Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Delray Beach.
“The pump’s working,” Redick said after he walked down the block to watch a city of Fort Lauderdale crew monitor a pump and clear drain gutters of debris.
City workers in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood worked to remove debris in tidal areas, inspected valves that prevent salt water from backing up drains and placed barricades near waterways to protect drivers.
Hollywood’s barrier island had at least 6 inches of standing water on many of its side streets, said spokeswoman Joann Hussey. Streets near North and South Lake also saw flooding, among other areas.
High tides rise all boats, but it’s not always good for business.
Bo Hammett, co-owner of Deck 84, a restaurant and bar beside the Intracoastal in Delray Beach, said his business goes down 15 to 20 percent because of the king tides and the bad weather.
Hammett said Thursday’s tide was the highest he’d seen in seven years.
“It’s a nuisance, but it’s something we deal with every year,” Hammett said. “When you’re given lemons, you make the best lemonade.” Florida’s southwest coast saw the heaviest rainfall during this time with 63.48 inches, almost 27.5 inches above the historical average and more than the basin gets in a typical year.
From June through September, the region received an average of 44.19 inches of rain, the highest total for the period in 86 years of record keeping.