MIAMI – Heavy rain flooded several Broward County roads and slowed traffic. The worst, though, likely fell inside a Pembroke Pines apartment.
Tamara Jeudy said she sat on her couch watching television with her four-year-old daughter sitting at a desk nearby when soggy drywall and insulation fell on their heads Tuesday evening.
“We heard the noise and everything was under us,” Jeudy said. “I couldn’t even see (my daughter).”
A spokesperson for Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue said the drywall collapse did not hurt anyone. Firefighters blame a roof leak that swallowed hours of steady rainfall. Minor flooding swept across Broward County.
Waves of water rose over curbs along South Ocean Drive in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. It receded in less than an hour. Still, traffic slowed to avoid stalling out.
Between Hollywood and Dania Beach, drivers steered clear of trouble too.
Still, the City of Fort Lauderdale warned of a National Weather Service flood advisory lingering into Tuesday, according to a tweet by the city communications department. Combined with expected king tides threatening low-lying coastal areas, emergency managers began preparing people for potentially worse weather.
The Jeudys can imagine few things worse than losing their home.
“We were all coughing for like two minutes after the ceiling fell,” Jeudy said. “What are we going to do?”
Their apartment is still vulnerable to rain, she said. So while her family waited for Red Cross support, they hoped drier days lay ahead.