‘I can’t go through this again’: Reality sets in for displaced Fort Lauderdale residents

FORT LAUDERDALE — Friday marked a turning point where the adrenaline wore off, the water began to recede and the reality of what is sure to be an exhausting next few weeks for many set in.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan and city officials rode through the brown, debris-filled water in a swamp buggy in the mobile home park of Lauder Lakes on Friday afternoon. The elevated vehicle was among the few that could get through the flooding.

Water was up to most people’s porches and front steps still, two days after an extraordinary two feet of rain fell over Fort Lauderdale in a matter of hours.

Elderly residents waved as buggy passed. City Commissioner Warren Sturman called out, asking what they needed. Some people asked for water. Others simply asked how deep the floodwater was, and if they would be able to leave their homes.

“We understand at this point that people are starting to feel hopeless,” Gollan said.

Nearly 60 people were being helped at the American Red Cross shelter at Holiday Park Friday night, city officials said. It is difficult for officials to get a count of how many people are displaced, as people sought refuge with family or friends, according to a Fort Lauderdale spokesperson.

The residents now faced with flooded homes feel discouraged and uncertain about how they’ll afford to recover or even plan for the next few days. Some are angry. Some may have to move away or now want to.

[ PAST COVERAGE: ‘My art was destroyed’: Home and studios flooded, famed Fort Lauderdale artist contemplated quitting ]

There are rare odds for Wednesday’s rain to happen in any given year.

“For context, within a six-hour period, the amount that fell is about a 1 in 1,000 chance of happening within a given year,” said Shawn Bhatti, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Miami. “So it’s a very historical type of event.”

The number of calls the Broward Sheriff’s Office Regional Communications Division received on Wednesday was even beyond what 911 call takers normally receive when a hurricane directly hits the county, the Sheriff’s Office said Friday. Nearly 9,000 people called 911 across the county.

In the 9 p.m. hour alone, over 1,700 people called 911. That’s ten times higher than normal that hour, the Sheriff’s Office said. Fire rescue officials received over 2,000 calls — two-and-a-half times more than on a normal day.

No deaths and no major injuries from the storm were reported as of Friday morning, city officials said.

The slog has begun, not just for residents, but for first responders, who have switched from “rescue” mode to “recovery” mode, Gollan said.

They’re identifying which locations are the most in need, then setting up “comfort stations” with food, water and charging stations. There are 25 Vactor trucks pumping water out of flooded neighborhoods and more on the way, city officials said.

“When you look at grief, you see a point where there’s acceptance,” he said. “That’s where we step in.”

[ PAST COVERAGE: ‘Like the ocean was on Las Olas’: South Florida under flood warning as historic rainfall ends ]

In the Lauder Lakes Mobile Home Community, you can no longer tell where the lake ends and the streets begin. Ducks floated by, along with trash, basketballs and a child’s LEGO toy.

The sun was out but water still stood at least knee-high in the street, where several cars remained stranded. Some residents trickled in to assess the damage; others had opened all the doors and windows to air out their cars. Many still hadn’t returned.

A foot of water remained in Julie Lopez’s home of six years. Her walls are warping, her car is totaled and she’s at a loss.

“I’m out of here,” she said. “As soon as this is over, I’m out of here. I can’t go through this again.”

Pablo Esplugas wasn’t supposed to spend the past three days in the mobile home park. He and his brother had arrived from Hollywood just before the downpours to visit a friend. The flood left them stuck in his manufactured home.

Esplugas considers himself fortunate. His friend’s trailer was the only one in the neighborhood that didn’t flood.

[ RELATED: Some Broward schools may open ‘differently’ Monday due to flooding ]

Dawn Beemer, a software engineer, had her two neighbors and their two dogs come over to escape the flooding in their own home, thinking they’d be fine in hers, four feet off the ground.

They waded over in water that came chest high. By the middle of the night, all three of them were sleeping with their feet in cold water.

The three of them spent Thursday night dry, at least, in the Holiday Park shelter. And they had a giant bag full of snacks that the three of them stockpiled. But that’s not what worries her, she said.

“It’s the unknown,” Beemer said.

She visited her recently renovated home on Thursday, where the moulding was already pulling away, the paint peeling off. It might be salvageable with a good drying out and redo, but her neighbors’ home likely is not.

“Their house is gone,” Beemer said. “Gone. Mine is damaged. I only had about 12 inches.”

None of them have flood insurance; most of the people in the community don’t, Beemer said: “We never needed it.”

For the time being, however, she can’t go home. And her neighbors may not be able to recover or stay in South Florida at all.

[ RELATED: Fort Lauderdale airport reopens after historic rainfall ]

Shekinah Jones, 23, lay in the Holiday Park shelter next to her wheelchair, drawing in her sketchbook.

In the corner of the room, a child played with blocks. Some ate, while others tried to sleep. A man lay down next to his bicycle and his parrot.

Jones, who is paralyzed, watched as the water came up to her waist in the home she shares with her husband. At some point, the two realized they needed to leave. They thought about sleeping in the car, but her husband is too tall, Jones said. A stranger pointed them to Holiday Park.

Jones had wanted to move to Florida, she said, “ever since I was a little girl,” growing up in Valdosta, Ga.

She doesn’t know where she will go now.

She described herself as “stressed” and “bored” as she jotted down notes, waiting for her husband to return from picking up food.

“It feels like a hurricane,” she said.

[ RELATED: Watch: Stunning drone footage shows river of stranded cars on downtown Fort Lauderdale streets ]

Avalon Conley, 63, had moved to his new apartment off of State Road 84 exactly one week ago.

Conley couldn’t see the water because he is almost totally blind. All he can see is the light from the doorway at the Holiday Park shelter.

He was lying in bed Wednesday night when he heard the sound of waves. When he went to his doorstep and touched the ground, he felt trash. A little while later, when he touched it again, he felt water about an inch high. By 7 p.m., it was halfway across the room. Conley lay back down in bed and fell asleep.

He’ll never forget the moment he woke up, stepped out of bed, and landed in 3 feet of water.

“I might as well have been in the middle of the damn ocean,” Conley said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Shira Moolten can be reached at smoolten@sunsentinel.com.

Angie DiMichele can be reached at adimichele@sunsentinel.com, 754-971-0194 and on Twitter @angdimi.