Significant Tropical Storm Eta Flooding In Broward, Man Rescued After Driving Into Canal In Lauderhill

BROWARD (CBSMiami) – There is significant flooding throughout Broward, making some roads impassable.

Flooding is severe in areas of Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Miramar, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Tamarac, Margate, Lighthouse Point, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Hallandale, Lauderhill, Weston, Coconut Creek and Oakland Park.

Lauderhill police advised their residents to stay home.

Sunday night in Lauderhill, a person was hospitalized after driving their car into a canal at 4121 NW 21 Street.

"As you can see here, you can't tell the parking lot from the canal, a vehicle drove into the canal," explained Assistant Lauderhill Fire Chief Jeff Levy.

Levy said it happened shortly before 7:00 p.m.

"One person was in the vehicle that we know of right now. A lot of firefighters were able to get into the vehicle, get the victim out, pull him out, begin CPR and get him transported to Broward General Hospital where he has regained his pulse," said Levy.

However, Levy explained they received reports that a second person may have been in the vehicle. A Plantation Fire Rescue dive team did a secondary search and checked the vehicle but didn't find anyone.

"This underscores just how dangerous it could be driving in flooded streets. Yeah, I mean, we hear the comment saying 'turn around, don't drown,' and this is a perfect example. If you can't see the streets, turn around. Don't go through the flooded water," said Levy.

"Sandy," who lives in Sushine Ranches, said she has never seen this amount of flooding in the area.

"And then there was rain, rain, rain… and then you think will it ever stop today. The water was almost up to our garage. And we have seen some houses down here that have water up to their front doors," she said.

In Davie, the fire department had to rescue goats from a flooded farm.

laxmi Lalwani lives off A1A at NE 9 Street in Fort Lauderdale and floodwater was nearly at her front door on Sunday.

"It's a part of living on the beach," she said. "I tell my friends when it rains like this, to avoid AIA."

Some streets in Melrose Park and Melrose Manors in west Fort Lauderdale flooded to the point where drivers couldn't get through

City vacuum trucks were in overdrive.

"We have increased our fleet from 5 to 23. Our trucks are working through the night, but they can't go out when the winds are more than 35 mph," explained Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis.

Fort Lauderdale residents can report any street flooding or clogged storm drains by calling the city's Customer Service Center at 954-828-8000.

CLOSURES:

All non-emergency County Government business operations will be closed on Monday.

All courthouses for the 17th Judicial Circuit for Broward County will be closed Monday.

All Broward County Public Schools will be closed Monday, including eLearning.

Port Everglades is closed but Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and North Perry Airports are open. However, passengers should check with their airlines for possible flight cancellations.

Broward County Transit and Paratransit are closed Monday.

All bridges (FDOT-and County-operated went into the "locked down" position at 2pm Sunday.

The Broward County Emergency Hotline is open at 311 or 954-831-4000.

Broward County Parks are closed Monday.

Solid waste and recycling collections in the Broward Municipal Services District will be suspended on Monday.