King tides overwhelmed sea walls and bubbled up through storm grates along Florida’s east coast Oct. 26, forcingroad closures, traffic snarls and exasperated residents to either get their feet wet or turn away from the brackish onslaught.
The normal autumnhigh tide flooding, which was stoked this week by the nearness of the perigean full moon and a heaving surf, triggered a coastal flood warning through Wednesday in South Florida with the worst of the surge coming between 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day.
At the same time, an area of low pressure over the Bahamas rubbing against high pressure over the Mid-Atlantic, caused gusting to 46 mph and crashing waves of 12 to 15 feet in areas from Palm Beach County through Miami-Dade County.
Brian McNoldy, a senior researcher with the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science, called the flooding outlook for South Florida “dire” last week, with days of persistent onshore winds overlapping with the Oct. 26 full moon and perigee on Oct. 28. Perigee is the closest a moon comes to Earth in its orbit, which increases the gravitational tug.
McNoldy said Monday was the sixth consecutive day that the Virginia Key tide gauge in Miami exceeded the “moderate flooding” threshold.
“According to our tide forecast model, that streak could reach an unprecedented 10 days before water levels start going down,” McNoldy said on social media. “The highest peak of this event should be on Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m.”
'Worst I've ever seen': Coastal South Florida town streets flood
In Lake Worth Beach, downtown streets that hug the Intracoastal Waterway were already flooded as the tide reached high Monday morning. Residents drove gingerly or turned down side streets to avoid the flooding. Unsecured items, including a plastic trash bin, floated into roads, and parked cars nearly had floodwater leaking in through door jambs.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Martin Roth, a 40-year-resident of Lake Worth Beach, who watched the water rise from a dry patch at Bryant Park. “I haven’t seen anyone get stuck with a stalled car. Most people are slowing down, but some plow right through it.”
At 11 a.m., A1A along the Atlantic Ocean in the towns of South Palm Beach and Lantana was shut down with police directing drivers to make u-turns. That means few people were getting to the iconic Dune Deck Café at Lantana Beach for lunch or the high-end Eau Resort & Spa in Manalapan.
The tony hotel where ocean view rooms can cost more than $1,000 a night was offering rides to guests across the street to the Plaza Del Mar shopping mall.
The Town of Manalapan, which counts billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and FOX News host Sean Hannity as property owners, was considering changing the time of its Oct. 27 morning commission meeting to avoid the high tide flooding.
A note to Manalapan residents said the flooding covered much of A1A through town and that police were restricting traffic while conditions “remain unsafe.”
The City of Boynton Beach offered free sandbags to residents who believe their home may flood with the king tides.
Todd Beortossi, a longtime resident of Boynton Beach, told WPBF-Channel 25 that flooding in his neighborhood has worsened over the years.
"My house is almost 100 years old, and it's at the original elevation from construction," Beortossi told WPBF. "They've built up the properties higher, so the water collects at the low end, which is me."
Is the worst of the flooding over for Florida coastal cities?
Jacksonville-based National Weather Service meteorologists warned near noon on Monday that tidal flooding was pushing into the St. Johns River and there was expected to be moderate high tide flooding through Wednesday morning.
Peak inundation could be 3.5 feet above normally dry ground, said NWS meteorologist Angie Enyedi.
“We continue with very dangerous surf zone conditions for the next several days with major beach erosion to continue through this week,” Enyedi said. “Even beyond Tuesday and Wednesday when the winds begin to weaken and tidal levels come down gradually we will have persistent onshore northeast to east winds that will chip away at our beaches.”
There were no reports to the NWS in Miami about homes being flooded by the unusually high tides, but up to 6 inches or floodwaters were reported in heavily trafficked streets including Collins Avenue in Miami Beach and Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
Tidal water also flooded areas of Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach from Southern Boulevard through downtown.
"The main thing we're hitting on is the dangerous surf and rip currents," said meteorologist Chris Fisher, in the Miami office of the NWS. "It's definitely a week to stay out of the water."
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. She covers weather, the environment and critters as the Embracing Florida reporter. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Coastal Florida streets vanish under king tide floods and it's not over
