Soggy sendoff: Remnants of Tropical Storm Erika could soak South Florida Monday

Erika isn’t done with us yet.

South Florida will continue to feel what’s left of the former tropical storm through Monday morning, forecasters warn.

And with school in session and workers on the road, the early commute could be a messy one.

“We are not completely done with the rain yet,” National Weather Service meteorologist Barry Baxter said Sunday afternoon. “But the threat has gone down.”

Much of South Florida was put under a flood advisory until 8 a.m. Monday, even though there was a lull in the heavy storms by Sunday afternoon and the watch was canceled early Monday. Through the day Sunday, a large swath of the region got soaked with intermittent squally rain and wind. The woeful weather caused crashes and flooded highway lanes, and sent up red flags at beaches.

Baxter said some of Erika’s remnants could pound South Florida into Monday morning. Overnight chances of rain climbed to 70 percent. The rain chance for Monday is 50 percent.

“We are asking everyone to remain alert and be careful,” Baxter said.

Despite the lashing, standing water wasn’t a problem in flood-prone areas like Miami Beach and Hollywood.

Miami Beach spokeswoman Nanette Rodriguez said three additional storm pumps were installed last week — making five total — in the West Avenue neighborhood where flooding has been a problem. Pumps are also keeping water at bay in Sunset Harbour, she said.

“Thank goodness everything is looking good so far,” she said.

Tropical Storm Erika dissipated Saturday evening after passing over the mountains of Hispaniola, but not before devastating the Caribbean island of Dominica and killing at least 20 people.

On Sunday, rescue teams worked to reopen roads blocked after flooding from Erika caused mudslides.

The storm also brought heavy rain to Haiti, killing at least one person in what may have been a landslide. The rain may also have led to an accident involving a truck and a bus that killed four.

While Erika raked the Caribbean, South Florida prepared for the worst — activating hurricane plans, running to grocery stores and filling up on gas.

“This was definitely a good drill in determining our level of preparedness,” Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said.

Heavy rain did cause some chaos on the roads on Sunday, with standing water shutting down the southbound express lanes of Interstate 95 north of State Road 112 and causing seven crashes. The lanes were shut down for hours to let the water recede, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Joe Sanchez said.

Patches of heavy rain may have kept some people inside, but others ventured out to take advantage of the heavy winds to surf and fish.

"This is great weather for fishing," said Kevin Jimenez, 18, taking up a post off the Rickenbacker Causeway. “We couldn’t go out on the boat so we came here.”

While Erika is gone, the National Hurricane Center is now monitoring Tropical Storm Fred, which is expected to become a hurricane overnight.

But Fred is still far away, near the Cape Verde Islands, and doesn’t yet pose a threat to the Caribbean and North America.

This report was supplemented with material from The Associated Press.

This story was originally published August 30, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Soggy sendoff: Remnants of Tropical Storm Erika could soak South Florida Monday."