FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Once-in-a-lifetime flooding hit multiple areas across Broward County Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, areas in Hollywood saw up to 18 inches of water.
“It’s never gotten this bad before,” shared Roxana Nedici.
Nedici has been living in her North Lake home with her grandmother for seven years. Wednesday’s flooding left parts of her home destroyed.
“It was probably up to here yesterday,” she said as she pointed to her door frame. “It was full, full, full of water.”
“Here’s the garage,” Nedici said as she led us through a pond of water.
“The water came up to here,” she said, referencing about 10 inches of water, “and now we are just trying to get everything out of here.”
Down the street is Gilberto Segara’s home.
“I looked at that bar where we put the shutters; it was up to there. And then it started coming into the house,” Segara said.
He’s lived in his home for 14 years, and even through three hurricanes, his home did not flood. But this week, severe weather changed that.
“I couldn’t even see the yard. It was just a big pond,” Segara said, looking out onto his back patio. “Now, 12 inches (of water), straight across, that’s a lot.”
Segara’s wife is undergoing chemo treatments. Since she has been going through a lot, her husband worked around the clock until 2 am Thursday to try and make her comfortable and get the water out.
“It was an experience,” Segara shared with a slight laugh.“But if you live in South Florida, expect the unexpected because it could be wet on one side of the street and then dry on the other.”
In North Lakes, water still flooded the streets on Thursday. Some homeowners could be seen pushing their stalled cars, hoping they would be able to remove them from the roadways.
“It was during the really bad part of the storm I could see it floating,” Teresa Pages said while looking at her car. “And all I’m thinking is, 'Oh my god. I hope my car is not toast.'”
Pages told Florida 24 Network that she lost her home during Hurricane Andrew. She has now lived in Hollywood for the past five years and said while she was prepared for flooding; she didn’t expect what she saw.
“(Wednesday), the waves were so bad it sounded like an ocean. And because I have a wall here by my apartment; you could hear it gushing and splashing, flying up in the air,” Pages said. “It was coming, it was coming and it was scary.”
Residents across Broward County continued to evaluate damages to their homes on Thursday and many said they hope the worst is over.
“You know, this is the way it is in South Florida,” Segara said while shrugging.
