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Tropical Storm Eta's Rains Swamp Miami-Dade Streets

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - From Miami Lakes to Brickell, tow trucks were working overtime after Tropical Storm Eta left neighborhoods flooded, cars stranded, and even some toppled trees.

When the sun came up residents came out for a peek and saw stalled out vehicles in high water.

By early afternoon, the cleanup was underway and the show was over.

Pumps helped clear busy intersections. City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Ken Russel said the delay in getting rid of the water in Brickell was due to a broken pump.

The busy intersection of Brickell Avenue and 13th Street was underwater Monday morning.

"Never lost power but there was howling wind all night, so you just hear this creepy sound," said one man.

That howling wind caused some minor damage to outdoor furniture, small trees that were knocked over. Some residents decided to ditch their cars overnight while some got stuck trying to navigate the floodwater.

"I think this street does this a lot. It's crazy that people try to drive through it. I've seen two people get stuck already and I just got here," said the man.

"A lot of floodwater. You can see all these cars trying to cross intersections and just getting wrecked," said another man.

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People in the neighborhood said they were fortunate and didn't lose power. But just north of there on NE 23rd Street, it was a different story.

While residents are stuck in their apartment buildings with no electricity, they are waiting for the water levels to go down.

"We lost power in the afternoon. It came back overnight but it's gone off again. But they'll fix it. They were working on the corner because of trees and something with the cables but it was off again," said one man who lives in the neighborhood.

The South Florida Water Management District has had pumps running for the last week. anticipating between 10 to 15 inches of rain from Eta.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said all of their pumps are working except for the Brickell Bay Pump which is currently undergoing repairs. He added that the city does have six portable pumps out and two are at Brickell Avenue and 12th Street.

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