‘It has been busy.’ Dozens of drivers got stranded on flooded South Florida roads
Crews were busy rescuing stranded drivers from flooded streets Saturday after South Florida was drenched by a disturbance that caused some areas to see up to 10 inches of rain.
Miami Fire Rescue had eight High Water Vehicles roaming around Miami, helping stuck drivers Saturday morning. There were also five “strike teams” assessing damage and searching for downed power lines in the city.
In Miami, the calls began to come in around 1:30 a.m. By noon, fire rescue said it had received 150 calls relating to the stormy weather. The calls were for stranded vehicles, flooded homes and fire alarms that were set off by power outages, said Lt. Pete Sanchez, who serves as a spokesman for the fire department. There were no reported injuries.
Some cities, like Miami and North Miami Beach, were tweeting out alerts Saturday, warning people of areas that have excessive flooding, with police sometimes blocking off access to the roadway. People who left their cars and trucks in Miami’s flooded roadways are asked to call Miami police’s non-emergency phone number at 305-579-6111 to locate it. Make sure you have the car’s make and model and information on where you left the car.
Based on preliminary radar data, some areas of downtown Miami and Brickell saw between eight and 10 inches of rain in the last 36 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
“Please stay inside until this rain passes and the flood waters subside,” said Sanchez. “Its not worth your life to risk it.”
Victor Manuel Carmenaty, the owner of VMC Towing, a 22-year-old small company located north of Doral at 7801 NW 66th St., said he started working at about 6 a.m. Saturday, receiving calls from drivers mostly located in the Brickell and Doral areas. AAA also reported an uptick in calls for service in South Florida this weekend.
By noon, his business had recovered about 18 cars — a number extraordinarily high for a weekend day, which tend to be slower, he said.
Because he’s understaffed at the moment, he said sometimes the wait time was as high as 1-2 hours.
“It has been busy,” said Carmenaty, 40. “A lot of people drive through water and don’t realize that the water can affect their car’s sensors and then the car turns off, so they need our help.”
