Weather alert: Fort Lauderdale airport resumes flights as flood recovery begins
Strong storms rolled back into Broward on Monday afternoon, shutting down the airport once again and flooding roads that already are saturated with water. The weather, paired with lightning, set off another series of advisories and alerts.
At around 4:15 p.m. Monday, the “ground stop” at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was lifted after almost three hours. Last week, the airport was closed from Wednesday to Friday due to unprecedented flooding that ravaged South Florida.
The city of Fort Lauderdale announced Monday afternoon that City Hall is closed until further notice while crews continue cleanup and repairs due to storm damage. Tuesday’s Commission meetings will be held virtually.
The city of Fort Lauderdale announced Monday afternoon that City Hall is closed while crews continue cleanup and repairs due to storm damage. Tuesday’s Commission meeting will be held virtually. To sign up or to join the meeting, visit https://t.co/GLgRtnSyXh. @MiamiHerald
— Omar Rodríguez Ortiz (@Omar_fromPR) April 17, 2023
And to make matters potentially worse, king tides may cause additional flooding in low-lying areas starting Tuesday morning, the city alerted.
READ MORE: King tides might cause more flooding in Fort Lauderdale. Here’s what you need to know
On Monday, residents of the flood-ravaged Edgewood neighborhood of Broward, near the airport, continued to recover what they could from their homes following last week’s historic rainfall.
Just two days after the flood tide ebbed on the streets, the skies opened up, unleashing storm band after storm band, pooling water back up on the roads and instilling fear that all the dank misery was starting again.
READ MORE: ‘It’s all gone.’ How families are coping in a Broward community that went underwater
“Exactly what we need. More rain,” Tara Hardy said as she peeked out from the awning of her home on Southwest 29th Street.
Hardy, 34, and husband Shilo Carney, 35, bailed out more than a foot of water from their house last week. The telltale waterline remains on their bare walls. Destroyed furniture and a lifetime of possessions are piled in their yard.
They lost mostly everything they own.
“Everything was a complete loss other than a big box of belongings that we have in the middle of the living room,” she said. “But our whole house is out here on the front lawn.”
READ MORE: Shelter, food, showers and more. Here’s how Fort Lauderdale flood victims can get help
Their two children, ages 6 and 9, and their pets, are staying with Hardy’s parents in Pembroke Pines.
Like many — if not most — neighborhood residents, their landlord never saw the need for flood insurance. The area has never seen that much flooding, even during hurricanes.
The couple doesn’t have renter insurance either.
“Just what’s on our backs,” Carney said while sitting on a bucket and smoking a cigarillo. “We all just chip in and hope for the best with lots of prayers,” he said.
They hope to be able to stay and have started disinfecting the house with bleach. But they worry about their children’s mental health. The kids are having fun with their grandparents.
However, reality is setting in.
“Now, it’s kind of hitting them that they don’t have a home to come back to,” Hardy said.
READ MORE: ‘Barely made it out.’ Here’s how to help victims of South Florida’s severe flooding
Down the street, two men rushed to pry a manhole cover off to drain flood water steadily creeping up both ends of 29th Street.
Paul Guerrero stood under the carport of his driveway, keeping an eye on the renewed flooding. He had just returned home after staying with friends in Davie.
“It’s been too flooded,” said Guerrero, 58. “We couldn’t make it back out here till today.”
As the water rose last week, volunteers in boats rescued Guerrero and the three other adults who live in his home. He has flood insurance and is ready to face the struggle of repairing his home of 27 years.
“We had 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water in here,” he said.
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Matt Newton, who was raised in Edgewood, was frustrated as he stood in the knee-deep water in the middle of the street. The 34-year-old is concerned the new flooding might negate all the cleanup he and his neighbors did over the past few days.
“All the garbage on the road and all the [expletive]holes driving up and down here throwing wakes,” Newton said. “This place is going to be trashed again.”
Miami Herald staff writer Omar Rodríguez Ortiz contributed to this report.
