© GettyA pedestrian in a flooded street in Miami on Saturday.
In Miami, drivers faced slashing rains and impassable streets that disrupted the city and surrounding areas throughout Saturday. The city's fire department responded to several people caught in cars amid the rising waters, rescuing residents from flooded areas and bringing them to higher ground. Six high-water vehicles with mammoth tires were deployed in the city, the department said on Twitter.
Winds of 40 miles per hour did not meet the threshold necessary for the system to be classified as Tropical Storm Alex, but they did slosh water into the downtown area, which lapped up against sandbags and door frames.
The storm brought more than 10 inches of rain to Miami over a 72-hour span, according to AccuWeather. Key Largo, about 70 miles south of the city, received 11 inches, and Biscayne Park, north of Miami, was hit with 11.6.
Because of the storm, 310 million gallons of wastewater and rainwater flowed into the Miami-Dade County treatment plant, more than double the average daily limit, according to the county. The overflow had "the potential to mix with floodwaters at the facility and flow towards adjacent surface waters," the county said in a statement.
"Mother Nature inundated the system," said Jennifer Messemer, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department.
The county issued a no-swim advisory as a precaution, recommending against fishing and boating as well. It also asked residents to decrease water consumption "to the extent possible" until the flooding eased.
There was also reported flooding in communities outside Miami, including Hialeah and Hollywood, as well as in Naples, on the Gulf Coast. Late in the afternoon on Saturday, pump trucks in Coral Gables, southwest of Miami, readied an effort to clear flooded blocks in that city, a process that officials said could last into Sunday.
Power outages did not soar after the storm hit, however. On Saturday morning, Miami-Dade County had 4,083 outages according to PowerOutage.us, though that number had dropped to 3,111 by early afternoon.
By noon, all tropical storm warnings were canceled in most of southwest Florida as the storm pounded the Treasure Coast in the southeastern region, according to the National Weather Service.
In Key Largo, a docked 25-foot boat sank after being filled with rainwater, according to David Garrido, a spokesman for the Key Largo Fire Department. There was no persistent power loss, however — only a couple of downed trees.
Meteorologists said that although the storm never fully organized as it traveled from the Gulf of Mexico toward the Florida Keys, it could still strengthen into a tropical storm as it leaves the Atlantic Coast. And Floridians know it does not take much storm development to cause mayhem in Miami — especially on a weekend night when many people are out.
Goncalo Gil, 26, stayed inside as streets clogged with water outside his apartment in the Miami neighborhood of Brickell. Mr. Gil, a student pilot, who posted a video of flooded streets on Twitter, wondered if the city's flood prevention system, which included storm water pumps and sea walls, had worked as intended. "From midnight, everywhere was flooded, every car was stalled," he said.
Kash Kashmiri, 30, arrived at the store he manages, Total Nutrition, in Brickell by 10 a.m. and found water inside its sandbagged entryway. He fretted over whether to allow a customer inside the store, and eventually offered to gather products for him and perform a cash transaction at the front door.
"Normal down here is where there's a heavy storm, you can expect slight flooding," he said by phone. "Any kind of tropical storm, you can expect flooding for sure."
More than two hours into Mr. Kashmiri's shift, the rain picked up again, and he noticed people in the area tying down furniture.
Warnings about continued possible weather risks remained for the weekend.
Early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of "considerable flash and urban flooding" in South Florida. Rainfall totals were expected to be wide-ranging as the storm was forecast to travel toward Bermuda, possibly causing high currents along the Atlantic Coast as it moved away from the mainland.
At the Clock Tower in Palm Beach, about 70 miles north of Miami, Matt Davies, 50, of Delray Beach, called the storm system "surfing weather." Ten surfers and a paddle boarder braved the conditions to navigate the four-foot waves.
The forecast for Florida included the possibility of tornadoes over the southern portion of the state through Saturday. The Hurricane Center also said that some cities in the state could see a storm surge of up to three feet.
People who live in parts of South Florida that are prone to floods should identify a safe place to go to if waters begin to rise, and be careful not to drive through standing water, Maria Torres, a spokeswoman for the National Hurricane Center, said on Friday.
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