Wednesday washout triggers flood watch for parts of Broward, Miami-Dade; rain, gusty winds expected to linger – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale

HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) – South Florida residents and business owners are dealing with the ripple effects from rounds of rain that have triggered a flood watch.

The Wednesday washout has raised concerns in several South Florida communities. The flood watch remains in effect through Thursday evening for coastal and metro areas of Broward and Miami-Dade counties and is likely to be extended.

On the Hollywood Broadwalk, barriers remained in place Wednesday afternoon, as passers-by encountered windy conditions along with the rain.

The inclement weather is expected to dominate forecasts throughout mid-December.

Crews on the Hollywood Beach have spent the past two days getting ready for the heavy precipitation.

The orange dams will hopefully prevent the sand from washing onto the Broadwalk and into the restaurants like it did in November.

“Oh, yeah, we got sand. We had to, like, clean the whole place; it was crazy,” said Julio Hurtado, who works on Hollywood Beach.

City officials said the goal is to keep the sand on the beach.

“I really like what the city is doing. I like that the city has the barriers and stuff like that,” said Tony Pazo who works on Hollywood Beach.

There’s no tool that can keep customers coming when the weather is this stormy.

“It’s bad weather for us. It makes business like this: empty,” said a woman who works on the Broadwalk.

It was just as windy down on Miami Beach on Wednesday, as well as on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

What’s more worrisome is the heavy rain, especially for those who flooded last April.

“We certainly don’t want to have damage to the house again. We just got through this,” said a Broward County resident.

Pumps in neighborhoods that need it are in place and ready to go, and so are rescue crews.

Hollywood now has trucks made for the high water.

“They’ll be responding to augment the areas that we’re not able to get to, with our regular response vehicles,” said Hollywood Fire Rescue Lt. David Guernsey.

To make room for the rain, South Florida Water Management crews are lowering water levels where they can.

“On Monday, we started and basically completed lowering the water level in the regional canals,” said South Florida Water Management spokesperson Randy Smith.

It’s weather for the birds, and even they were seen taking cover.

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