‘Once-In-A-Millennia’ Rain Event Swamps South Florida

A 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event swamped South Florida Wednesday, flooding streets and even closing an airport. A flood warning remains in effect through Thursday morning. 

According to the latest update from the National Weather Service office in Miami, between 14 and 20 inches of rain has been dumped on the Fort Lauderdale metro area since Wednesday afternoon.

“This amount of rain in a 24-hour period is incredibly rare for South Florida,” NWS meteorologist Ana Torres-Vazquez told CNN. 

Torres-Vazquez described the rain event as a “1-in-1,000-year event, or greater,” implying the odds of happening in any given year are just .1%. She said the amount of rainfall in one day has been equivalent to a high-end hurricane. 

Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy told CNN the rain storm is the “most severe flooding that I’ve ever seen.” 

Here are the wild scenes from South Florida:

Video of last night’s flood in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. pic.twitter.com/59dY3JdpQf

— Insider Corner (@insidercnews) April 13, 2023

#Miami #FortLauderdale #Florida #southflorida #FloridaWeather #Weather #Raining #rains #flooding #Floods #MiamiWeather pic.twitter.com/OFB8iuIfVX

— Breaking News Worldwide (@FelizKarenP1) April 13, 2023

Downtown Fort Lauderdale right now pic.twitter.com/2acJkBq2pq

— Florida Drone Cleaning LLC DOUGLAS THRON (@douglasthron777) April 13, 2023

VIDEO: Ambulance being towed through the flood waters in Fort Lauderdale, #Florida. #FLwx #flood #wxtwitter https://t.co/BCpzqtImFj pic.twitter.com/FrNJBYfgho

— Global Weather & EAS Society (@GWESOfficial) April 13, 2023

The forecast for Thursday indicates more rain for South Florida may increase the rainfall total even more.