Florida mops up after floods close Fort Lauderdale airport


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South Florida kept a wary eye on a forecast that called for more rain as it cleaned up on Thursday from nearly 30cm that fell in a matter of hours, causing widespread flooding, closing the Fort Lauderdale airport and turning thoroughfares into rivers.

Fort Lauderdale issued a state of emergency as flooding persisted in parts of the city. Crews had worked through the night to attend rescue calls, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.

Stranded cars littered streets around eastern Broward County, where rains started on Monday, with the heaviest downpours coming on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Crews worked to clear drains and fire up pumps to clear standing water. People were told to stay off roads until it drained.

The Red Cross arrived at 5am on Thursday and set up a staging area to help residents whose homes were flooded, providing them with blankets and coffee, officials said.

The staging area also acted as a reunification point for families.

Fort Lauderdale City Hall remained closed on Thursday with ground-floor flooding and no power. A tunnel carrying US Route 1 under a river and a major street in the Fort Lauderdale city centre was also closed, along with some ramps to Interstate 95.

Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport remained closed through at least noon on Thursday, with many flights cancelled and some passengers stranded. Roads around the airport flooded and became congested with stalled traffic.

  • People wade with their belongings through high floodwaters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. AP
    People wade with their belongings through high floodwaters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. AP
  • A woman wades through floodwaters in a Fort Lauderdale neighbourhood as the city keeps a wary on a forecast calling for more rain. AP
    A woman wades through floodwaters in a Fort Lauderdale neighbourhood as the city keeps a wary on a forecast calling for more rain. AP
  • A vehicle drives on the flooded runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. AP
    A vehicle drives on the flooded runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. AP
  • Travellers stranded at the Fort Lauderdale airport wait for flights to resume. AP
    Travellers stranded at the Fort Lauderdale airport wait for flights to resume. AP
  • Flooding at the airport caused it to close. AP
    Flooding at the airport caused it to close. AP
  • Passengers wait for flights to resume. AP
    Passengers wait for flights to resume. AP
  • Cars stranded amid the floodwaters near the airport. AP
    Cars stranded amid the floodwaters near the airport. AP
  • About 30cm of rain fell on the area in a matter of hours. AP
    About 30cm of rain fell on the area in a matter of hours. AP
  • The flight status board at the airport. AP
    The flight status board at the airport. AP
  • A flooded street in Fort Lauderdale. Reuters
    A flooded street in Fort Lauderdale. Reuters
  • A car sits amid flooding in Fort Lauderdale. Reuters
    A car sits amid flooding in Fort Lauderdale. Reuters
  • A school crossing guard helps people cross the street in Dania, Florida. AP
    A school crossing guard helps people cross the street in Dania, Florida. AP
  • Waves crash against the jetty at the Bal Harbour Lighthouse. AP
    Waves crash against the jetty at the Bal Harbour Lighthouse. AP

By early Thursday, enough water had drained to allow people to drive on the upper level — or departures — road to pick up waiting passengers. But the entrance to the lower-level, or arrivals, road remained closed, officials tweeted.

Video taken by witnesses showed water coming in the door at an airport terminal and a virtual river rushing down the tarmac between planes.

In the Fort Lauderdale city centre, video showed a man swimming to the kerb along Broward Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon as cars rolled by. Drivers also recorded themselves rolling through streets where brown, swirling water rose nearly to car bonnets.

Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy told CNN it was the worst flooding he had experienced.

“The ground was already saturated so there is extensive flooding all over our city and throughout South Florida," Mr Levy said. "Many roadways are impassable. Lots of vehicles got stuck and left abandoned in the middle of our roadways.

“I’ve lived here my whole life. This is the most severe flooding that I’ve ever seen.”

More showers, thunderstorms and local flooding were in the forecast from the National Weather Service on Thursday morning. An additional 5-10cm of rain was possible on top of the 35cm that fell in recent days.

Broward County schools cancelled classes on Thursday, including after-school and extracurricular activities.

“We had schools experiencing severe flooding,” Toni Barnes, Broward Schools director of emergency management, told WPLG-TV.

“The water made its way into the hallways, into the classrooms ... The schools became inaccessible to parents, parents attempting to pick up their students.

"Staff members attempting to leave campuses — they were unable — they were trapped in their cars. We had to call fire rescue to assist our parents out of their cars to get them into the school because they were trapped.”

The heavy rains also shut down South Florida’s high-speed commuter rail service, called Brightline. It tweeted on Wednesday evening that train service between Miami and Fort Lauderdale was suspended.

Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

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Know your Camel lingo

The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home

Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless

Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers

Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s

Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival

Match info

Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')

Southampton 0

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

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Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

The biog

Occupation: Key marker and auto electrician

Hometown: Ghazala, Syria

Date of arrival in Abu Dhabi: May 15, 1978

Family: 11 siblings, a wife, three sons and one daughter

Favourite place in UAE: Abu Dhabi

Favourite hobby: I like to do a mix of things, like listening to poetry for example.

Favourite Syrian artist: Sabah Fakhri, a tenor from Aleppo

Favourite food: fresh fish

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

'Panga'

Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta

Rating: 3.5/5

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Updated: April 13, 2023, 5:46 PM