Heavy Rains in Florida Leave Thousands Without Power

A storm system that unleashed up to 10 inches of heavy rainfall over parts of southeastern Florida and cut power to thousands of people eased early on Thursday, and moved east away from the coast, meteorologists said.

The severe weather was spawned by a confluence of storm systems that developed in the Gulf of Mexico and off the east coast of Florida. It brought five to eight inches of rain, and in some areas 10 inches, to the Miami area, starting early Wednesday and continuing through the night.

Schools were closed on Thursday in Broward County. Power outages spread across the region, with Florida Power & Light reporting early on Thursday that there were more than 59,000 power outages in Miami-Dade County, more than 24,000 outages in Broward, and 21,000 in Palm Beach County.

Wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour in coastal areas of those three counties prompted warnings through Thursday afternoon, meteorologists said.

Still, by Thursday morning, floodwaters began to recede. Periodic light rainfall was in the forecast for the day, but forecasters removed the flood watch in the area. And while standing water remained in some locations, forecasters said the breezy conditions from the storm system were actually allowing areas to dry faster.

“It is fair to say that this event is winding down at this point,” forecasters with the National Weather Service in Miami said.

The weather will gradually improve through the day and return the area to “a more benign and quiescent regime,” forecasters said.

This area is no stranger to flash flooding. In April, Fort Lauderdale was drenched with up to two feet of rain, shutting down its airport. “Wall-to-wall rain” was falling over South Florida by early afternoon on Wednesday, according to Brandon Orr, a local meteorologist.

A busy stretch of Biscayne Boulevard near downtown Miami flooded ahead of the heaviest rain on Wednesday, according to footage from WPLG, a local ABC affiliate. Grassy areas along parts of Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale resembled small bodies of water.

Saturated soils could make it worse.

Much of this region already has saturated soils from recent rain, especially in Broward and southern Palm Beach Counties, where three to six inches of rain fell on Tuesday. The ground acts like a sponge: If you keep adding water to it, eventually, it can’t hold anymore.

When will it end?

As the storm system moved past the area and up the coast, conditions were expected to subside by Thursday evening.

As of Thursday morning, it looked as if the system would stay far enough east to not bring significant rain along the northeast coast this weekend.

Johnny Diaz contributed reporting from Miami.