Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP) – Tropical storms have flooded cities in South Florida since then, flooding some cities and flooding some homes with rising water that didn’t flood for hours.
It was the 28th hurricane during the busy hurricane season, and the first landfall in Florida. The year set a record with 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma struck the Gulf Coast. But before that Theta formed on the North East Atlantic late Monday night, a 2005 record-breaking hurricane named Basin 29 took place.
After hitting Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane and killing about 0 people from Mexico to Panama, it swept south to Florida, then on Monday went to the Gulf of Mexico where it meets the Evergreen Sea, with a maximum sustained wind of 850 miles (85 kph). F.) ).
Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, was one of the difficult areas.
“It simply came to our notice then. I’ve never seen anything like it in the last 20 years, “said Tito Carovalho, who owns a car stereo business in Fort Lauderdale and in some places the water was 3 feet (less than a meter). Some items in his business were damaged by the floods, he added.
Firefighters pulled a man from a car that crashed into a canal Sunday night in La Derhill, north of Miami. The patient was hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.
“It was even worse than we imagined, and we were ready,” said Arby Walker, a 27-year-old student whose Fort Dardell apartment apartment was 5 or 6 inches (13 to 15 centimeters) full of water.
“It took us 20 minutes to navigate through our neighborhood due to heavy flooding in our area,” Wakere added. The floodwaters also submerged half of her sister’s car.
The state’s largest COVID-19 test site was damaged by 16 inches (40.6 centimeters) of rain at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami-Dade County, officials said. During an epidemic, coronavirus is one of the busiest places for people to get diagnosed. The venue was expected to remain closed until Wednesday or Thursday.
All test sites in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, operated by the state government, were closed Sunday and Monday due to the storm. At least seven test sites were to be closed on Tuesday.
Eta blew up Lower Matekumb as soon as it hit the ground late Sunday, in the middle of a chain of small islands that make up the Keys.
Forecasters said the Etna system is likely to weaken as it slowly moves toward the southwestern Gulf Coast, but some models show it strengthening in a major storm. It is still festering enough to sustain some power while dumping large amounts of water in the lower third of the Florida Peninsula. It showed signs of weakening on Monday afternoon, but the forecast for more than 72 hours was vague.
In Key Biscayne, an island away from Miami, some streets were flooded and tree branches were knocked down. Rose Haney, 64, collected sandbags for Eta’s preparation, but the water only reached her driveway and did not enter her home.
“There are puddles everywhere,” he said. “You can’t really drive on every street here.”
Fire Chief Don Boke said an aniseed tree fell on a house in Key Largo, causing minor injuries. He said the hurricane knocked down some other trees and shattered power lines.
Randy Berry, 36i, also woke up on Monday, flooding the streets outside his home in Fort Lauderdale, and was involved in helping his neighbors whose cars were stuck in excess water.
“A lot of people have their doors open, get furniture up to the ground and try to get water out of their house,” Barry said. “Everyone helps each other a lot.”
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trentalis called it a 100-year rainy season.
“Once the soil is saturated, there’s really no place for water to go,” Trentalis said. “It’s not like a big hurricane. It’s more of a rain event, and we’re just doing our best to make sure people in our community are safe. “
A tractor-trailer was swinging off the elevated Palmetto Expressway in Miami, the Florida Highway Patrol said. CBS4 reports in Miami that the driver lost control of a wet, slippery road and sustained minor injuries.
Florida Gov. Ron D. Santis said on Twitter that Floridians should keep an eye on the storm in the coming days. While the hurricane has moved ashore, it could still bring dangerous conditions to the Gulf Coast this weekend.
In Cuba, it continued to flow in the coastal areas of the Eta rivers and floods. About 25,000 people were evacuated, but rain continued to fall, with a total of 25 inches (63 cm) forecast.
Authorities from Panama to Guatemala have recorded the deaths of more than 100 people and more than a dozen are missing, almost a week after a coastal collapse in Nicaragua. Massive floods and landslides have affected thousands of people in countries already struggling with the economic consequences of the epidemic.
Thousands of miles (kilometers) in the North East Atlantic, Theta became the 29th hurricane of the 2020 season in the Basin late Monday. Forecasters said it has developed about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers) southwest of the Azores, with a constant wind top of 50 mph (85 kph). The system was moving east at 15 miles per hour and there was no immediate threat to the ground.
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Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez-Lican in Miami, Cody Jackson in Fort Lauderdale, Your Lush in St. Petersburg, and Hallelujah Hadero in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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