Thunderstorms over South Florida on Wednesday afternoon caused flooding at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, temporarily shutting down an entrance road.
Airport officials said in a tweet shortly after 4 p.m. that the entrance to the arrival and departure levels from East Perimeter Road, near the cell phone waiting lot, is closed and advised drivers to use other entrance routes.
Coastal and metro areas of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are under a flood watch until 10 p.m. as multiple showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop Wednesday afternoon and move slowly over the region, the National Weather Service Miami said. Some areas will receive between 1 and 3 inches of rain with isolated amounts of more than 5 inches.
#WeatherAlert: Due to heavy rainfall, the entrance to #FLL’s arrivals/departures levels from E. Perimeter Road (near the Cell Phone Waiting Area) is temporarily closed as a result of flooding. Motorists are advised to use alternate entrance routes into the airport.
— Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int’l Airport (FLL) (@FLLFlyer) May 24, 2023
Southwestern Palm Beach County is under a severe thunderstorm warning after a storm was located moving southeast over Belle Glade at 30 mph, the warning said. Powerlines and trees were reportedly damaged near Lantana Road and Jog Road, the weather service said. Hail and wind damage is expected and tornadoes are possible, according to the alert.
Reported by Spotter KO4DKN and relayed in by a ham operator. pic.twitter.com/UJY9ph3i0U
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) May 24, 2023
The news of the airport entrance road closure Wednesday had some South Floridians on social media saying “here we go again,” after unprecedented rainfall last month, totaling nearly 26 inches in 24 hours, forced the airport to shut down to all flights for two days with hundreds of flights canceled.
South Florida’s rainy season, which began last week, is expected to be rainier than usual through June, the weather service’s outlook said, though the flood risk is average. The season is currently in its “stormiest” part, when damaging winds, tornadoes, lightning, hail and flooding are most likely to happen, the outlook said.