Angela Shlyakhov’s commute from downtown Fort Lauderdale to her home in Sunny Isles Beach took nearly 10 hours on Wednesday, a lot longer than usual.
“Our office had lunch at Boatyard and we left there around 2:45 p.m.,” said Shlyakhov, who works as a paralegal. “The whole lot was flooded, so I went straight to my house, and the traffic was crazy.”
Shlyakhov’s journey through heavy traffic — the result of punishing rains that flooded parts of South Florida this week — became even worse after a passerby told her to stay on US 1 and go through Hallandale Beach.
“So I did that and was stuck in Hallandale for hours,” she said. She came home after midnight.
While Shlyakhov was able to get home in her car, others abandoned their cars after coming to a standstill in the floodwaters. Vehicles littered boggy roadways Thursday morning, the aftermath of a blast of tropical weather that frustrated drivers and flooded cars in several parts of Miami-Dade and Broward.
READ MORE: ‘It has to stop’: Another night of rain could tip South Florida neighborhoods over the edge
Hollywood police reported 88 rescues and the towing of about 50 cars, figures that could rise. On Thursday, towing companies in Miami Beach offered free services to clear the roads.
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said there was a 15% increase in calls for emergency roadside assistance as of Thursday afternoon, adding that the numbers were likely to rise because service was suspended during the worst of the downpour on Wednesday evening.
“We expect service call numbers to increase as we continue to work with our members in the coming days,” he said.
During a period of relatively dry weather on Thursday, people were picking up the pieces after more than a foot of rain fell on the region. Early Thursday, State Farm reported more than 300 vehicle flooding claims from South Florida, according to spokesman Michal Brower. That number could increase if more inches of rain are forecast Thursday evening.
In Miami Beach, Christina Ramos spent her Thursday afternoon cleaning up the mess outside her Crespi Boulevard apartment. The floodwaters reached the threshold of her front door.
She said it has been a recurring problem since she bought her apartment in 1995, and has only gotten worse.
“The city says it’s trying to find solutions, but it’s always the same problem,” Ramos said.
Last year, her son lost his car in similar weather, and she said she saw many of her neighbors’ cars had to be towed this year.
“You can’t have a low car in this area or the flood will ruin it,” Ramos said.
Shlyakhov, the paralegal from Sunny Isles, has felt that sting before. Last April, she lost her Mitsubishi in similar weather while taking the same route home from work.
“Last year, when I got stuck in East Hollywood, the sewer drain I was sitting over burst and filled my car with sewage while I was in it,” she said.
She had to pay a stranger in a truck $300 to take her home that evening. She said she was dropped by her car insurance company, Progressive, after losing her car in the rain last year and is now considered a “high-risk driver” and has to pay $500 a month in car insurance.
Wednesday evening was a cheaper – but longer – ride home.
“The 10 hours I spent on the road was because every time I tried to leave to go to the bathroom or get water, it took so long to get back in line,” she said. “People weren’t very nice. They wouldn’t let you in.”
