Current:Home > NewsSouth Florida compared to scenes from a "zombie movie" as widespread flooding triggers rare warning -Profound Wealth Insights
South Florida compared to scenes from a "zombie movie" as widespread flooding triggers rare warning
View
Date:2025-04-15 16:24:21
South Florida has been left in a state of emergency after days of rain have dumped more than a foot of rain on many parts of the region. The deluge created what's been likened to "zombie movie" scenes and triggered a rare warning from the National Weather Service as the precipitation continues on Friday.
"Looked like the beginning of a zombie movie," tow truck driver Ted Rico told the Associated Press. "There's cars littered everywhere, on top of sidewalks, in the median, in the middle of the street, no lights on. Just craziness, you know. Abandoned cars everywhere."
Rico, a lifelong Miami resident who has been helping clear the streets of stalled cars, said "every year it's just getting worse."
The downpours that started earlier this week triggered a rare "high risk" warning of excessive rainfall from the National Weather Service on Thursday. The agency said that overly-saturated soils from the precipitation created the opportunity for flash floods and could bring 10 additional inches of rain in some locations.
The last time such a warning was issued was in 2022, CBS News senior weather producer David Parkinson said. As of Friday, the risk for excessive rainfall has been downgraded to moderate, he added.
Despite the downgraded warning, there is still potential for significant damage and flooding. The NWS said early Friday that continued rainfall could bring "considerable to locally catastrophic urban flooding" through the day across South Florida. The service's Miami station says that a flood watch will remain in effect through Friday evening.
6/14 at 8am: A few scattered showers are being picked up on radar across South Florida this morning. There is still standing water in several neighborhoods in southeastern Broward/northeastern Miami-Dade counties. Please exercise caution if you encounter any residual flooding. pic.twitter.com/aPefqkBEbc
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) June 14, 2024
About 20 inches of rain – nearly 2 feet – had fallen in some areas, and forecasters said another 2 to 4 inches of rain is possible Friday, with some areas seeing even higher amounts. While hurricane forecaster Alex DaSilva told the Associated Press that June is Florida's wettest month, he said it's "unusual" how much rain has come in just a few days.
Two weather systems are behind the weather, DaSilva told the AP, saying that they are working to essentially channel in moisture from the Caribbean.
"It is essentially a fire hose turned on jet mode," DaSilva said. "We also have a stalled front across Florida, which has helped to enhance the precipitation."
The torrential downpour and flooding that has shut down streets and even caused a 1-in-1,000-year event farther north in Sarasota, comes at the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, which officials predicted would be "extremely active."
This hurricane season, which officially started June 1, is expected to bring up to 25 named storms, up to 13 hurricanes and between four and seven major hurricanes that are at least category 3. Major hurricane status, however, does not mean lesser-grade hurricanes or storms will not pose significant threats of their own, as hurricane grading relies alone on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which only accounts for wind speed and not storm surge, flooding and other impacts.
- In:
- Weather Forecast
- National Weather Service
- South Florida
- Miami
- Florida
- Flooding
- Flood
Li Cohen is a senior social media producer at CBS News. She previously wrote for amNewYork and The Seminole Tribune. She mainly covers climate, environmental and weather news.
TwitterveryGood! (3)
Related
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Jets' Aaron Rodgers misses mandatory minicamp; absence defined as 'unexcused'
- Bankruptcy case of Deion Sanders' son Shilo comes down to these two things: What to know
- Inflation may have cooled in May, but Federal Reserve is seeking sustained improvement
- A New York Appellate Court Rejects a Broad Application of the State’s Green Amendment
- After baby's fentanyl poisoning at Divino Niño day care, 'justice for heinous crime'
- Chace Crawford Confirms He’s Hooked Up With One of His Gossip Girl Co-Stars
- Missouri executes David Hosier in former lover's murder: 'I leave you all with love'
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Miley Cyrus Details Relationship With Parents Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus Amid Rumored Family Rift
Ranking
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Gas prices are falling along with demand, despite arrival of summer
- Well-known North Texas pastor steps away from ministry due to sin
- Traffic resumes through Baltimore’s busy port after $100M cleanup of collapsed bridge
- Tropical rains flood homes in an inland Georgia neighborhood for the second time since 2016
- Rapper Enchanting Dead at 26
- These July 4th-Inspired Items Will Make You Say U-S-A!
- Horoscopes Today, June 11, 2024
Recommendation
Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
Tiger Woods feeling at home with 'hot, humid' conditions at US Open
FBI quarterly report shows 15% drop in violent crime compared to last year
Johnson & Johnson reaches $700 million settlement in talc baby powder case
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
American investor Martin Shkreli accused of copying and sharing one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album
The Daily Money: Is inflation taming our spending?
Oprah Winfrey is recovering after emergency room trip for gastroenteritis