No-name tropical system floods Florida with rain

Up to 10 inches fall on Miami, turning streets into rivers.

It’s not named Alex yet, but a waterlogged tropical rainstorm has drenched and flooded parts of South Florida. Up to 10 inches of rain inundated Miami between Friday and Saturday morning, turning downtown streets into rivers and submerging vehicles.

Flash flood warnings covered much of the Broward and Miami-Dade coastlines early Saturday, in effect through around midday, including Miami, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Widespread totals of 5 to 8 inches have fallen, with a few locales registering more than 10 inches.

While the tropical disturbance responsible for the torrents had not yet earned a name, it was predicted to become Tropical Storm Alex by late Saturday or today — once it crosses the Florida Peninsula and enters the Atlantic Ocean.

The disturbance, centered near the southwest coast of Florida on Saturday morning, was forecast to generate heavy rain over the southern peninsula through around midday Saturday with “considerable flash and urban flooding,” according to the National Hurricane Center. After that, showers should become more intermittent and eventually taper off.

Significant flooding was reported in downtown Miami on Friday night into early Saturday as a result of the disturbance, with roadways becoming inundated under several feet of water.

“At this time @CityofMiamiFire is responding to multiple calls of cars stuck in the water,” tweeted a public information officer with the City of Miami-Fire Rescue early Saturday. “Please stay off the road and do not drive through floods.”

Videos posted to social media depicted vehicles submerged to their hoods, in some cases still continuing to drive through flooded roadways. Other cars were completely stranded.

Nearly a foot of rain has been measured in downtown Miami, where an observer reported emptying an 11-inch rain gauge while downpours continued to soak the region.

A general 4 to 6 inches fell between Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, with amounts quickly dropping off north of there. Most of the greater Tampa area saw a half-inch to an inch, with a trace to a tenth of an inch in the Orlando metro.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said most government services, such as bus routes and trains, planned to operate as normal over the weekend. Canal levels in South Florida have been lowered to minimize flooding from heavy rains.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Tuesday. This is an unusually early start to the storm season but not unprecedented for Florida.

MIKE STOCKER/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL A driver climbs out of his stalled car Saturday after he tried to move it to higher ground from the flooded parking lot at the Beachwalk at Sheridan Apartments in Dania Beach, Florida.