The water ‘has no place to go.’ Cutler Bay streets flooding as rain continues to fall
Zoara Guzman stood near a Cutler Bay street Tuesday trying to figure out how to get through the floodwaters.
“I can’t even go through to my daughter’s house, it’s crazy,” she said, as water splashed when a truck zipped by.
The flooding stranded hundreds of residents in Cutler Bay’s Saga Lake neighborhood, named after the artificial lake that overflowed following what administrators said was an unprecedented 15 inches of rain. With knee-deep water swamping the few access entry points to the cluster of cul de sacs and dead-end streets, residents without trucks or elevated vehicles were left with few options
“We have been stuck since yesterday at 4 p.m., Jessie Diaz said Tuesday afternoon from her front porch on a gentle slope above a flooded street and sidewalks covered in water.
The situation meant no work or school for her family on Tuesday, when residents said the situation seemed to be the worst in terms of water on the streets. It’s also the worst Diaz and others can remember. “We’ve been here 14 years,” she said.
Cutler Bay was one of the areas hit hard by the tropical weather that moved through South Florida over the weekend — and the rain hasn’t really stopped.
“As we all know here, we are dealing with this crisis of the heavy rain water that came over the weekend and the immense flooding that’s going on,” said Cutler Bay Mayor Tim Meerbott in a video. “According to South Florida Water Management, we have received 15 inches of rain in this area and that is unprecedented. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much rain fall in that short of a period of time.”
Meerbott said the town has secured pumps and is working with the water management district to help clear the area as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately, this is like bailing out a boat with a glass of water,” Meerbott said in an interview as the sun began to set in the town of about 44,000 people off of Biscayne Bay in southern Miami-Dade.
Meerbott said he’s expecting the worst flooding to be over Tuesday as waters recede across the area, pumps lower the lake levels and skies clear without another wave of heavy rain to reverse progress.
He said the town already planned storm-water improvements with $11 million it received from Washington in COVID-relief dollars, and that one option under consideration is a deep-water well to let rain and lake water drain quickly during severe weather.
Meerbott said the flooding was a shock. “We didn’t know what we didn’t know,” he said. “This has never happened in Cutler Bay.”
Rafael Casals, the town manager, drove through Saga Bay in a city truck, pointing out how the lake had washed over its banks and covered surrounding parks and flowed onto the streets. “You can’t tell the difference between the lake and the road,” he said, driving down a flooded neighborhood street. “This community is completely blocked in.”
“If you’re lucky enough to have a high vehicle, you can get out,” Casals said. “If not, you’re stuck.”
He said the catastrophic flooding will mean a reset for Cutler Bay’s approach to upgrading drainage infrastructure and preparing for worst-case scenarios. “This is better than a computer simulation,” he said. “We’re not scared of the reality.”
According to the National Weather Service, Cutler Bay saw between 6 and 9 inches of rain over the weekend and about 4 to 8 inches between Monday and Tuesday.
“The fact that it hasn’t stopped raining doesn’t help things,” said Nick Carr, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The area — as well as the rest of Miami-Dade and Broward — remains under a flood watch through midnight Wednesday.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Tuesday she has surveyed Saga Bay in Cutler Bay.
“The streets are entirely flooded,” she said. “The lake has breached its banks. Fortunately the homes were built higher after Hurricane Andrew, so the homes look safe.”
Levine Cava noted the weekend flooding was only a taste of what’s to come.
“We know this is going to be a super busy hurricane season and everyone needs to be prepared,” she said.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 6:52 PM.
