South Florida Water Management District Lowering Canals Ahead Of Possible Flooding From Fred
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - There's a flood of concern about this weekend's rain from Tropical Depression Fred and the South Water Management District is taking action.
Drainage canals in South Florida feed into larger canals, those feed into the ocean.
To handle all rainwater expected on Saturday, and possibly Sunday, the SFWMD has activated its pumps to get the water level down in the canals.
They need to make room.
"We want the room, we want capacity. When that rain starts, and it starts heavy, it's going to come rushing into these canals. So we want to have plenty of room in there to continue to move that out into the ocean," said Randy Smith, with the South Florida Water Management District.
CBS4 meteorologist Dave Warren said another thing going in South Florida's favor is the lack of rainfall over the last three days. He added that if we get too much rain, too quickly, that could lead to flooding and overwhelm this system.
Miami Beach is also preparing for possible flooding. They are deploying an additional 11 temporary pumps throughout the city that will assist the existing pump stations. They also have staff assigned to work around the clock starting Friday through Monday with additional crews on standby if necessary.
