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King Tide Brings On More Flooding In South Florida

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MIAMI (CBSMiami)  --  Monday morning started with a slow commute for drivers in coastal parts of South Florida as King Tides flooded many streets.

The problematic high tides are expected to continue at least through Wednesday night.

Longtime Fort Lauderdale resident, Michael Asser was frustrated over the flooding.

He told CBS4's Donna Rapado, the street outside his coastal home near Isle of Capri and Las Olas Boulevard floods all the time.

"It just keeps getting worse each year.  And now we're down to several days every month," said Asser.  "It's annoying because you can't use a car without ruining it for a start.  It also ruins everything else like the grass and the trees."

Flooding has done a number on South Florida this year.  An alignment of the earth and moon causes sea level to rise, a phenomenon known as King Tides.

In Fort Lauderdale, the city has installed 50 drainage valves specifically to help with these floods.  A spokesperson says the city continues working to mitigate the problem as the king tidal flooding gets deeper.

They also put up "no wake" signs in neighborhoods, which Asser calls ludicrous.

"And they also put these wooden boxes here which they said would stop the water  coming out of the drain," he said, pointing at a box on the flooded curb. "But in practice, it actually stops the water from going back down the drain, which is a waste of money in my opinion," said Asser.

The city of Miami Beach has also tried relieving street floods with some huge portable and permanent pumps.  The city has three more years to go though with this particular project.

Meanwhile, the cities of Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach both increasingly turn to social media, tweeting times for expected high tides to their followers.

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