Fort Lauderdale Brought to a Halt by Torrential Storms

According to forecasters, late-night thunderstorms brought an estimated 15 to 20 inches of rain to Fort Lauderdale, causing severe flooding and stranding travelers at the city's international airport.

Though storms are common in South Florida, the heavy rain led to the closure of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport early Wednesday evening, with a partial reopening announced early Thursday morning.

However, the airport was not expected to fully reopen until noon. The closures and flooding resulted in hours-long traffic jams.

Florida Airports Submerged

There were no reports of injuries, but the Fort Lauderdale area was under a rare flash flood emergency for a few hours overnight, which is an alert reserved for situations that pose a severe threat to human life and can cause catastrophic damage.

Dawn Grayson, who has lived in the area her entire life, was one of many travelers left stranded, sitting in traffic for four hours after her flight to Las Vegas was canceled.

Fort Lauderdale is one of the largest cities in Florida, on the Atlantic coast of Broward County. Its highest one-day rainfall record of 14.59 inches was recorded on April 25, 1979.

Chris Fisher, the lead forecaster at the Weather Service Office in Miami, stated that the estimate of 15 to 20 inches of rainfall on Wednesday was rough based on radar.

He also added that the exact rainfall total for Wednesday would become clearer later in the day, but the storm was already considered "historic."

This is partly because April is typically a dry month in South Florida, and Mr. Fisher said he could not recall significant flooding at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

In addition to stranded airline passengers, airport staff and Uber drivers were also seeking shelter, reported NY Times.

Ms. Grayson experienced this firsthand and expressed her confusion and fear during extreme weather conditions. Despite the frightening situation, she and her husband arrived late Wednesday night after a seven-hour ordeal.

Unfortunately, they could not rebook their flight to Las Vegas and were forced to cancel their trip. Meanwhile, Ms. Grayson's mother and sister were able to rebook their flights from Miami.