When you’re getting Flash Flood Warnings like this on Wednesday at 7:32 pm, and the water is right outside your front door, you better hope the rain stops. But, on Wednesday night, it continued for another 2 hours after the already 3 days of non-stop raining. The water eventually made its way into our house. It didn’t ask our permission. It just took over the entire house.
Wedneday night on April 12th was considered the rainiest day in Fort Lauerdale’s history. We live 20 minutes South of Fort Lauderdale also in Broward Country. The Fort Lauderdale airport was closed due to it being under water to the tune of 25 inches. My phone was blowing up with Flash Flood Warnings and messages like in the above picture. Cars were floating everywhere. Even SUV’s went down for the count.
The messages were letting us know this is a dangerous and life threatening situation. The following sentence in the message was referring to possible evacuation orders. That is the one that had me deeply concerned. Between my mother that can’t walk, my disabled sister and my 7 dogs, I would’ve had to decline an evacuation order. It literally would not have been possible.
This rainstorm brought me back to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and Hurriane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. Natural disasters are always very dangerous. No question about it. But, it’s the floods that take people’s lives and ruin their lives for a good while.
The takeaway from this post is that when a natural disaster is headed in to certain location, the people must also consider the aftermath and the flooding that they will probably be faced with. Because that’s when the real pain begins.
For now, we are back and we are OK.