Fort Lauderdale Airport deja vu flooded again?

[bovine421]

Already it's not even rainy season. Was it built in a extremely low area with poor drainage?

https://weather.com/news/news/2023-04-13-fort-lauderdale-south-florida-flooding-airport-closes

[Aaron]

20 inches of rain in a short time will do that. concrete jungle doesn't drain well either.

[bovine421]

20 inches of rain in a short time will do that. concrete jungle doesn't drain well either.

Wow that's five times more than December 23rd 2019.
I remember that one cuz I was over on Anna Maria Island was very rainy and windy
What! that like half there annual rainfall

[1rainman]

South Florida is a wetland/swamp which they drained in order to build on it. It dries out quickly though.

The older development pre 1980s does not have the retention ponds and drainage pipes needed. If Tampa, punta Gorda any of the older stuff gets hit with hurricane level rain the buildings will be flooded.

Ian we got several feet of rain in 24 hours. The streets were flooded but it drained in a couple days. The buildings are on hills other than roof damage that let in rain most were ok. If an older area gets hit with that the buildings will be completely flooded and it won't drain as fast.

[bovine421]

Up here the new subdivisions have Retention Ponds and they use the dirt to build the subdivision 6 to 7 ft higher than existing grade. Long time locals who had their house built in the 1970s when they didn't build on a house pads are getting flooded now. My daughter is a drainage engineer in Tampa I messaged her and told her to tell her boss not to make any bids on any projects in Fort Lauderdale

[1rainman]

North Port/port Charlotte is full of canals. The dirt was flung up around the canal then the canal holds water. But over the years it was discovered that isn't enough. More retention ponds have been dug then every big business building like a Walmart or even apartments have their own retention pond and it's usually a year round pond. Then they still bus in dirt and concrete to raise new houses about ten feet up either on a hill or thick concrete step that goes up a foot or so. Then it's 100% humidity much of the time. I'd rather just not live in a swamp but the growth is insane.

[johnb51]

Everywhere south, east, and west of Lake Okeechobee was originally part of the greater Everglades ecosystem and/or wetlands.  Can you imagine that in the 1960's they wanted to relocate Miami International Airport to the middle of the Everglades!

[Orkine]

......
Ian we got several feet of rain in 24 hours. The streets were flooded but it drained in a couple days. The buildings are on hills other than roof damage that let in rain most were ok. If an older area gets hit with that the buildings will be completely flooded and it won't drain as fast.

Hello Rainman, your Ian rainfall is looking like my fish that got away story, the fish gets bigger with each telling. 

Jokes apart, thankfully the Ft Lauderdale rainfall was very localized, 2 feet of rain in a 24 hour period is a lot of rain.  Estimated at about a 0.1% exceedance event (1 in 1000 year)  Had that much rain occurred over a larger area, terrible as this was, we would be telling a much different and sadder story.

[johnb51]

Thankfully the Ft Lauderdale rainfall was very localized, 2 feet of rain in a 24 hour period is a lot of rain.  Estimated at about a 0.1% exceedance event (1 in 1000 year)  Had that much rain occurred over a larger area, terrible as this was, we would be telling a much different and sadder story.

Yes, it was very localized.  In Deerfield Beach, 10 miles away, we probably got less than 3 inches.

[1rainman]

......
Ian we got several feet of rain in 24 hours. The streets were flooded but it drained in a couple days. The buildings are on hills other than roof damage that let in rain most were ok. If an older area gets hit with that the buildings will be completely flooded and it won't drain as fast.

Hello Rainman, your Ian rainfall is looking like my fish that got away story, the fish gets bigger with each telling. 

Jokes apart, thankfully the Ft Lauderdale rainfall was very localized, 2 feet of rain in a 24 hour period is a lot of rain.  Estimated at about a 0.1% exceedance event (1 in 1000 year)  Had that much rain occurred over a larger area, terrible as this was, we would be telling a much different and sadder story.

We drove around the day after the roads were under several feet of water. It's no exaggeration. There are photos and videos.

[1rainman]

I didn't find any rainfall total for port Charlotte or north Port. Orlando was 18 inches so it was more in port Charlotte.

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202209/30/WS63366a16a310fd2b29e7aa51.html

[Orkine]

The several feet of flooding you observed was runoff from other areas. 

Ian dropped 15 to 21 inches at the most over the event.  That total wasn't necessarily in 24 hours since some of the accumulated rainfall was from the prior day.  It was a big event and a wet event, but didn't have the rain intensity (volume per time) as the event in Fort Lauderdale.

A good summary for Ian can be found here.  Note most of the numbers are for multiple days or the entire month of September.


https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4a242bae868140a394c96bc2d9415e86

You can look at daily accumulations here.
https://www.sfwmd.gov/weather-radar/rainfall-historical/daily

[bovine421]

This evening was definitely in biblical proportions and the draining systems were not designed for the magnitude of this event. But some of the things that impede the drainage systems is debris. Something as small as a palm frond and oak leaves can cover a grate to an inlet box that can back up water for days. A garbage can lid or even more so a garbage can is extremely hard to remove with the force of the water. In most instances a machine is required or a chain and a pickup truck. Take note of where these drainage inlet boxes are in your neighborhood. Once your street is underwater it can be difficult to remember exactly where they're located. If lawn maintenance people are blowing grass clipping and Oak leafs down the curb and in the inlet box you might want to ask them to stop. May seem like a small deal but accumulative it can impede flow.