Fear factor: Fort Lauderdale 'one hurricane away' from being under water again

Fort Lauderdale was in the bull’s eye of an intense “1,000-year” rainstorm that swamped homes, streets and neighborhoods last year.

Residents of Broward County’s largest city didn’t have to wait long for the next deluge to hit.

In June, a storm dumped up to 20 inches of rain in 48 hours in parts of southern Broward, overwhelming drainage systems from Fort Lauderdale to Hallandale Beach and beyond and forcing a section of Interstate 95 to close for more than five hours.

Now Mayor Dean Trantalis and his colleagues on the dais are calling on everyone to be braced for the next big storm.

“We’re one hurricane away from having these neighborhoods under water again,” Commissioner Warren Sturman said. “I think we need to do everything in our power to make sure when the rain comes again — which it will — that we are prepared.”

Vice Mayor Steve Glassman warned that the recent flash floods are a sign of things to come. “More rain in a shorter amount of time is exactly what science tells us we should expect to see more of – and regardless of the science, as we grow, we must do a better job of finding smart places for water to go,” he said during a recent City Hall meeting.

Glassman called on city leaders to pioneer the way in finding solutions, even when it comes to the county’s flood-prone airport. The airport is owned and operated by the county but is located within three cities: Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Dania Beach.

“How many times does the airport have to close due to flooding until you realize it’s a real problem and start actually doing something about it?” Glassman said. “How many times does the airport employee parking lot need to flood for them to realize that they are impacting our residents?”

Trantalis warned that neighborhoods like Edgewood and River Oaks are fated to flood partly because they’re so close to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and absorb runoff from the airport and Interstate 595.

“We could put the most sophisticated drainage system in Edgewood and it’s still going to flood,” Trantalis said.

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