State of emergency declared in Fort Lauderdale after unprecedented 2 feet of rainfall

Estimated 15-25 inches of rainfall through the Fort Lauderdale metro area

A state of emergency has been declared in parts of south Florida on Thursday after the city of Fort Lauderdale received more than two feet of rainfall.

The order was issued by Governor Ron DeSantis for Broward County after historic flooding closed the airport for more than 24 hours, shut down a high-speed rail service and led to the evacuations of hundreds of residents.

Some four to eight inches of rain fell over southeastern Broward County and northeastern Miami-Dade County, with the heaviest rainfall amounts of 15-25 inches estimated through the Fort Lauderdale metro area.

A flood warning remained in effect for Fort Lauderdale until 10am ET on Friday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

More rain was possible on Friday afternoon through the early evening, according to the NWS forecast, but would not be as severe as torrential downpours earlier this week.

A massive amount of rain fell in a matter of hours on Wednesday after a supercell thunderstorm lodged over the region following several days of wet weather. Local forecasters described the deluge as a one in 1,000 event.

eople get rescued by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation law enforcement from a flooded neighborhood after heavy rain in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 13 (AFP via Getty Images)

Drone footage showed dozens of vehicles floating down major roads and residents wading up to their waists through water-logged streets.

At one Fort Lauderdale airport terminal, water rushed through the doors and a virtual river gushed down the tarmac between planes.

“I’ve lived here my whole life. This is the most severe flooding that I’ve ever seen,” Mayor Josh Levy, in the city of Hollywood, told CNN.

Abandoned vehicles sit in a flooded street on April 13, 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Nearly 26 inches of rain fell on Fort Lauderdale over a 24-hour period (Getty Images)

Crews were working to clear drains and fire up pumps to clear standing water. Fort Lauderdale Aiport reopened on Friday morning at 9am, officials reported.

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.