Heavy rain has deluged parts of Florida, triggering the total shutdown of Fort Lauderdale airport. Here’s what we know about the situation and whether it is a sign of climate change
By Madeleine Cuff
13 April 2023
Cars on a flooded street in Dania Beach, Florida, on 12 April
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Heavy rain has deluged parts of southern Florida, forcing the US National Weather Service to declare a flash flood emergency and triggering the total shutdown of Fort Lauderdale airport. Road, rail and air connections have been cut off and emergency services were working through the night to rescue people stranded by rising waters.
Meteorologists say the rainfall is likely to have smashed local records and to have been driven in part by escalating climate change.
Here’s what we know about what has happened and whether such events can be predicted.
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How much rain has fallen in Florida?
Over 50 centimetres of rain fell on Fort Lauderdale in southern Florida in the space of just 6 hours on 12 April, according to the US National Weather Service, more than one-third of the city’s annual rainfall and equivalent to the annual rainfall of London.
The total rainfall over the day may well be even higher. A WeatherSTEM station at Fort Lauderdale airport showed that almost 66cm of rain fell at the station in the 24 hours up to 7am local time on 13 April.
The intense downpours come after days of wet weather in Florida, which is still supposed to be in its eight-month dry season where average rainfall is about 7.6cm per month.