Steady rain showers were falling for the fourth consecutive day across South Florida on Friday morning, capping a week in which the soggy weather pattern caused major travel disruptions, flooded homes and roadways.
The threat of heavy rain was expected to slowly diminish over the next couple of days, according to the National Weather Service, with forecasters still cautioning that lingering showers may cause problems.
Renewed areas of flash flooding remained possible into the afternoon across that part of the state. At times through Friday morning, the storms were expected to drop another two to three inches of rain an hour on top of the foot or more of precipitation that had fallen this week.
The already saturated and vulnerable soils across the region will certainly be sensitive to any additional rainfall and so, a flood watch remained in effect until Friday evening in several counties.
Thursday was the third day of tropical downpours as a line of storms, stretching from the west coast to the east coast of the state, brought copious rain and flooding to some areas and raised the risk of flash flooding through the evening.
Heavy rain prompted temporary ground stops on Thursday afternoon at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Tampa International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The airport ground stops were lifted by Thursday evening, but there were still more than 1,200 flights scheduled to arrive or depart from Miami International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Orlando International Airport that were either canceled or delayed by Thursday night, according to FlightAware. American Airlines had canceled more than 150 flights to and from the airport in Miami, about a quarter of its planned trips there for the day.
The Weather Service had elevated the risk of excessive rain for Thursday to “high,” the top level on a four-category scale, and the city of Miami Beach had declared a state of emergency.
Heavy rainfall on Wednesday had already caused flash flooding from Fort Lauderdale to downtown Miami, battering major urban areas and shuttering roads, including part of the Interstate 95. The severity of the weather prompted Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to declare a state of emergency in Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade and Sarasota Counties.
Two people died and three others were injured in a car crash on Wednesday in Collier County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, after a driver lost control in the wet weather conditions.
The floodwaters have swamped shopping strips, submerged cars and left residents in some neighborhoods wading waist-deep through the deluge.
A daily record of nine and a half inches of rainfall was set in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, breaking a previous record of almost five and a half inches that had stood since 1978. In two days, more than a foot of rain fell over Miami Beach, with 13.64 inches being reported.
Other 48-hour rain totals have almost doubled that amount, with North Miami unofficially receiving 20 inches and Hallandale and Hollywood each receiving 19 inches since Tuesday. All eclipsed the average rainfall of 10 and a half inches for June in the Miami area.
Niraj Chokshi, Isabella Kwai and John Yoon contributed reporting.
