As Gulf coast braces for Hurricane Ian landfall, South Florida feeling storm’s impact
As the west coast of Florida braces for massive and potentially deadly impacts from Hurricane Ian, due to make landfall Wednesday evening, South Florida is already feeling the impacts of heavy rains, strong wind gusts and flooding.
The National Weather Service has issued tropical storm warnings for Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties as Hurricane Ian builds in the Gulf of Mexico and shifts east toward Florida.
Tropical storm conditions are expected by Wednesday morning. With the more eastward track of the hurricane, there is a greater risk of stronger winds and flooding rain.
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties canceled classes for Wednesday, and Broward and Miami-Dade canceled Thursday classes as well.
While students at Boca Raton Community High School rejoiced over their pending vacation, others lamented that they had to go in at all on Tuesday, and some just didn’t show up, according to students on campus.
Joshua Krieg and Max Ackerman, two freshmen at the school, described the atmosphere as “cranky.”
“People here were mean because they did not want to come to school today,” Krieg said.
They said the moat outside the school had flooded.
“We didn’t want school,” said Alaisha Poitier, a senior, adding that the coming day will be “a nice little break off.”
Joe Anaya, his wife Catherine and 13-year-old son Joseph were checking out the waves in Palm Beach Tuesday afternoon after picking Joseph up from school. The Anayas moved to Loxahatchee from Denver four months ago.
Their experience prepping for snow storms is no different from how they plan to prepare for hurricane season as new Florida residents, Catherine said. They bought supplies and a generator.
”We knew that moving here … it was just one thing we needed to prepare for.”
Like several others out and about in Palm Beach County Tuesday, Joe Anaya said he was excited about the weather.
”It’s Mother Nature and if you’re gonna live anywhere in a tropical area, you gotta deal with the consequences,” he said.
At South Beach Park in Boca Raton, surfers flocked to rare waves amidst the gusts of wind and rain while spectators sat under the gazebo and watched.
The hurricane has provided ideal surfing conditions in an area that rarely has them, Jeremi Licata said as he waited under the gazebo, surfboard under his arm.
Many surfers said they will probably surf tomorrow, too, when they expect the waves to be even bigger.
Nearby, Bruce Dungey hunched on one of the benches with a giant umbrella covering his head as he checked the weather radar.
Dungey said he comes to the pavilion every night after work because he finds it “therapeutic.”
Tuesday’s beach wasn’t exactly peaceful, but therapeutic in its own way, he said.
“It makes you a little more aware of things,” Dungey said. “It makes you appreciate Mother Nature.”
The storm is impacting tourists as well.
Deja Jenkins and Malik Torres arrived in Palm Beach County on Saturday from New Jersey. Their plans to go to the beach Tuesday were put on hold as the outer bands of the hurricane began to drench the tri-county area.
They instead strolled Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, and took shelter under a shop awning during a squall.
Jenkins and Torres’ flight back to New Jersey leaves from Palm Beach International Airport. They said their main worry is whether their flight may be canceled.
Jenkins’ family lives in West Palm Beach. On Monday night, she said her family members weren’t concerned about the effects of Ian. ”No one from here is worried,” she said. “As long as they’re not worried, I’m not worried.”
Torres, who’s never experienced a hurricane before, said he’s still going to enjoy his vacation. ”I’m enjoying it as long as I don’t get swept up off the ground,” Torres said with a laugh.
Nick Allyn was the lone person on the dock along South Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach Tuesday afternoon. An employee of JetRide Boat and Jet Ski Club, he’d been working on the dock since 7 a.m.
Fingers wrinkled from the rain, he jumped from boat to boat, tying fenders onto the sides of vessels, disassembling biminis, lowering motors into the water and tying down loose items.
”There weren’t any reservations, obviously,” he said. “No one wants to go out in this.”
Allyn moved from Ohio a year ago and said he’s exhilarated about experiencing his first hurricane. “I’m excited about it because I’ve never got to witness this, so this will be cool,” he said.
Shifting storm track
Since the storm’s forecast track has shifted to the east, the tri-county South Florida region faces a higher risk of heavy rain and damaging winds, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.
The National Weather Service is calling for 4 to 6 inches of rainfall over the coming days, with isolated areas receiving 10 inches.
“Yesterday Coral Gables got 3 to 5 inches in just one heavy band,” said Barry Baxter, meteorologist for the NWS, “so they are dumping pretty good when they come through.”
As bands arrive, “we could see some wind gusts up to near tropical storm force, like 30 to 40 mph,” Baxter said. These gusts are expected over Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties early Wednesday through part of Thursday.
“These bands can produce tornadoes at any time, with little or no warning,” said Baxter.
Several tornadoes were reported late Tuesday afternoon in Miami-Dade County, and the National Weather service extended its tornado watch for all of South Florida until 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Broward County mayor Michael Udine said county agencies are lowering the levels of local lakes and canals in anticipation of more rain.
Palm Beach County officials said Tuesday afternoon they are in good shape heading into the storm. ”It’s important to prepare but you shouldn’t panic,” Palm Beach County Mayor Robert Weinroth said. “This is something that we go through on almost an annual basis and we’re prepared for this.”
Weinroth said with the landfall on the west coast, officials are going to be ‘cautiously watching” and hoping the storm doesn’t angle further east. ”One of the spaghetti models has it coming to the north of Lake Okeechobee. So it’s going to have an effect,” he said, adding there could be as much as 10 inches of rain. “This is going to be quite a rain event.”
Most county operations and services, including health clinics and trash pickup, will be suspended Wednesday, officials said.
Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, who represents western Palm Beach County, including the Glades area, said one bright spot is that a dike rehab project around Lake Okeechobee has resulted in major improvements in flood resilience.
”We’ve been in touch with the Army Corps of Engineers. They assure us that the dike is in the best position it’s been in decades,” she said, adding that the lake is about 2½ feet below where it normally is at this time of year, “so there’s plenty of storage space available in the lake.”
Flooding in Fort Lauderdale
Monday’s and Tuesday’s downpours combined with king tides Tuesday morning to lead to flooding in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Flooding occurred on Las Olas Boulevard heading to the beach and along State Road A1A.
An FDOT pump failed in the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel in Fort Lauderdale and crews added auxiliary pumps. City crews are pumping out water while that work is done, city spokeswoman Ashley Doussard said.
Flooding was particularly bad outside the neighborhood of Coral Way. Traffic signs warned of road flooding on A1A near Southeast Ninth Street as cars slowed to a stop to avoid flooding.
Las Olas Boulevard, usually filled with early morning walkers and coffee seekers, was quiet. A few people in ponchos and umbrellas braved gusty winds while others hunkered down at cafes for outdoor breakfasts. Fort Lauderdale Beach was nearly empty.
A possible influx
At a news conference on Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about evacuations on the west coast of the state, and suggested evacuees consider heading to South Florida. “Go south across Alligator Alley,” he said. “South Florida is doing better.”
Fort Lauderdale hotels are starting to see a trickle of hurricane evacuees from points west. The Dalmar Hotel on North Federal Highway reported and uptick in guests from the west coast, and Matt Denson, general manager of the Snooze Hotel on North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard said that he’s seen two couples check in as they fled the storm, one from the Tampa area, and one from Weston, abutting the Everglades.
“Maybe they’re just using it as an excuse to get away, but they did say they wanted to keep going east because of the storm. Evidently they’re right by the Everglades.”
“I would expect it,” he said of the possibility of more evacuees booking stays.
Air and sea travel
Commercial airline traffic remained largely on schedule at South Florida’s airports, including Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, Palm Beach International and Miami International.
In a website statement, the Broward County Aviation Department said it “continues to monitor Hurricane Ian’s development and path.” Officials advised travelers that if they are flying this week, they should contact their airlines for the latest flight status before heading to the airport. Travelers can also check the Flight Aware service.
Most flight disruptions Tuesday involved international trips to Caribbean area destinations, including Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, according to online data provided by the airport.
JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines canceled their morning and afternoon flights to Havana, Cuba, as the storm passed over the island.
Several JetBlue flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti were listed as delayed.
Elsewhere in Florida, Southwest said it canceled all flights for Thursday at Southwest Florida Airport in Fort Myers.
Orlando International Airport will cease commercial flights at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The airport will not fully close, so as to accept emergency aid and relief flights if necessary. The Tampa airport was closed late Tuesday afternoon.
Spirit Airlines, the discount carrier based in Miramar and the largest operator at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, is allowing passengers flying to, from or through Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers between Sept. 27 and Sept. 30 to reschedule flights with no fees or penalties. Customers have until Oct. 3 to reschedule without charge.
American Airlines, which serves all three South Florida international airports and a variety of other Florida destinations, said it is waiving change fees to passengers traveling to, through or from 16 cities in Florida, providing they meet certain criteria.
The same applies to Caribbean destinations including Grand Cayman, Havana, Cuba, and Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Port Everglades, the county’s seaport, is restricting oceangoing vessels from entering or docking in unless they receive prior approvals from the harbormaster and Coast Guard captain at the port.
Petroleum supplies, meanwhile, “are strong with at least a five-day supply of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel,” said Udine. Two tankers were in port on Tuesday offloading various energy products, he said.
Prep your pets
Even though Hurricane Ian is not predicted to hit South Florida directly, its power and effects can be a threat to pets. Experts recommend keeping your pets inside before, during and after the storm, and keep them away from floodwater — it can be contaminated with both harmful chemicals and sewage.
Make sure you have plenty of pet food, and include their water needs in your calculation of how much water you might need in case of an emergency. A two-week supply of food, water and any medications is recommended.
Experts also recommend keeping a hard copy of emergency phone numbers for veterinarian, animal shelters and friends/relatives, and a photo of you and your pet together (to help prove the pet is yours), and one with the pet by itself, showing any distinguishing marks that will help with identification.
Staff writers Scott Travis, Amber Bonefont, David Lyons and Susannah Bryan contributed to this report.
