Yesterday, a glancing blow from the Tropical Depression formerly known as Tropical Storm Emily sent Miami Beach into disorder as some of the worst flooding of the year took place.
When it was all said and done, about seven inches of rain, according to city officials, was dumped on Miami Beach in just about three hours. To add insult to injury, power outages caused parts of the city’s new pump system to fail. The ensuing flooding nearly reached car windows in certain parts of the city. In one Facebook video, a person can be seen paddleboarding through the street (2:15 in the video below).
The whole thing was a chilling omen for Miami Beach. Yesterday’s storm was bad—sure—but the city has seen (and surely will see again) storms much worse and much longer. If three hours could catch Miami Beach off guard, what will happen when an actual hurricane rolls through?
Many local businesses were forced to close for at least the afternoon. Pubbelly Sushi posted a video showing their entire dining room soaked in a few inches of water.
Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine posted a statement yesterday acknowledging the damage while reminding his constituents that only 15 percent of the city is covered by the new pump system.
“The new system is designed to handle 7.5 inches of rainfall with a peak intensity of just under 3 inches per hour,” the statement read. “Today, our city saw peak rainfall intensities of greater than 7 inches per hour. This is more than double the new design capacity.”
Be that as it may, Miami Beach has some serious planning to do. Going forward, we're going to need more than just paddle boards. Because it's not a matter of if this will happen again; it's a matter of when.
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