Flooding closes Broward schools, sparks emergency declarations

Broward County experienced an "unprecedented" deluge of rain this week that closed city halls and schools, turning streets into rivers and airport tarmacs into lakes.

Driving the news: In Fort Lauderdale, which bore the brunt of the rain and flooding, some residents had to climb out of their windows to escape waterlogged homes while fire rescue crews used boats to reach others.

• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport suspended flights Thursday until 9am to allow daylight inspections "to determine the airfields’ readiness to resume safe flight operations." With roads in and out inaccessible due to floodwaters, some passengers were forced to sleep at the airport.
• Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach closed their city halls and declared states of emergency due to the flooding. Hollywood and Broward County declared emergencies as well. Gov. Ron DeSantis also declared a state of emergency for Broward County.

By the numbers: Fort Lauderdale experienced a 1-in-500-years rain storm, with 26 inches of rain falling Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported.

• That 24-hour mark may break an all-time record for Florida, per multiple reports.
• Of note: The city's water system is designed to handle 3 inches of rain within a 24-hour period.
• State Farm already received 820 auto-insurance claims as of Thursday afternoon, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

Between the lines: Many factors are contributing to this event during Florida's dry season, including the broad area of low pressure over the Gulf and a stalled-out frontal system, Axios’ Andrew Freedman and Rebecca Falconer report.

• Studies have shown that extreme precipitation events are becoming more common and more severe throughout the U.S. and around the world.

• For every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperatures, the atmosphere can hold 7% more moisture, which helps fuel storms, as does warming ocean temperatures.
• Planners that designed infrastructure to withstand a 100-year flood 20 years ago are now facing the reality that such floods are occurring more frequently as the climate warms and the amount of moisture available to storms increases.

The intrigue: Fort Lauderdale joins the growing list of places hit with damaging deluges during just the past two years. This includes St. Louis, Missouri, Dallas, Texas, and Hazard, Kentucky.

What's next: The chance of rain in Fort Lauderdale is forecast to drop to 30% Friday and then Saturday should be mostly sunny.

• The Red Cross set up an emergency shelter in Holiday Park (1150 G. Martin Drive) to give displaced residents a place to stay and warm food.