Fort Lauderdale airport under water as south Florida is hit with historic flooding

Authorities were urging people to stay off the roads after scenes of people driving -- and swimming -- through murky floodwaters

Fort Lauderdale and other parts of south Florida have been swamped with historic rainfall, shutting down operations at a major airport and a high-speed commuter train.

Up to two feet of rain fell in a matter of hours on Wednesday in Broward County leaving many areas underwater. The torrential downpours came after the area had already been drenched with several days of rain.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Miami declared a flash flood emergency around 8pm on Wednesday for Fort Lauderdale, along with the areas around Hollywood and Dania Beach. A short time later, forecasters issued a tornado warning for nearby Davie, Plantation and Lauderhill.

Authorities urged people to stay off the roads after scenes of people driving -- and swimming -- through murky floodwaters. There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.

On Broward Boulevard, a man was seen swimming to the curb on the flooded street at rush hour as cars rolled by.

Crews worked to clear drains and fire up pumps to clear standing water on Thursday as stranded cars floated down roads.

“The ground was already saturated so there is extensive flooding all over our city and throughout South Florida. Many roadways are impassable. Lots of vehicles got stuck and left abandoned in the middle of our roadways,” Mayor Josh Levy, in the city of Hollywood, told CNN. “I’ve lived here my whole life. This is the most severe flooding that I’ve ever seen.”

The Fort Lauderdale area is expected to see an additional two to five inches of rain on Thursday, the NWS said.

Fort Lauderdale Airport was shut on Wednesday afternoon after travel became impossible due to flooding and tornado warnings. It was expected to reopen at noon on Thursday.

Video taken by witnesses showed water coming in the door at an airport terminal and a virtual river rushing down the tarmac between planes.

Heavy rains also prompted South Florida’s high-speed commuter rail line to shut dow with train service between Miami and Fort Lauderdale suspended on Wednesday.

Nearly 6,000 customers in Florida were without electricity on Thursday morning, according to utility tracker poweroutage.us.

Extreme rainfall events have increased in frequency and intensity in the US over the last 70 years as the planet warms.

For each degree of warming, the air’s capacity for water vapor goes up by about 7 per cent, leading to more intense downpours, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

With reporting from the Associated Press