MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Despite Hurricane Milton still being in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday, residents and business owners in some parts of Miami-Dade County were already dealing with high water — and preparing for even more flooding.
South Dade residents like nail tech Nef Temple began to prepare.
“If I can prevent the inside of my business, or my home from getting damaged by water, then I am going to do that,” said Temple. “We have to unplug everything so we don’t get any power surges, fire hazards, everything. We just have to be careful and take this storm as seriously as we can.”
The 22-year-old small business owner said water entered her unit following a recent rainstorm: “There is a lot of flooding here, in this area. I am in the Cutler Bay area off of Quail Roost.”
With South Florida under a tropical storm warning, Temple said it was time to get storm-ready.
“I don’t want to just be one of those people who says, ‘I should have, could have, would have,’ so I am just going around to get sand, water, food,” she said.
County leaders outlined some of the next steps households can take.
“If you are filling extra containers with gasoline, make sure you are storing it in an appropriate container and in a safe area of the home,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. “Make sure your yard and construction debris are properly secured. Any objects that hurricane winds could blow about should be tied down or brought indoors. That includes your garbage cans, recycling cans, garden furniture, garden tools, and toys.”
Temple added, “You always have to prepare for the worst and wish for the best.”
Northeast Miami-Dade flood preps:
Residents of flood-prone northern Miami-Dade are also watching and waiting.
Low-lying and all but ignored, residents at the Biscayne Breeze mobile home park, at Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 114th Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade, are bracing again.
“Last time the flood hit it was up to our waist,” resident Brian Smith said.
Smith and his neighbors took matters into their own hands — and their own wallets.
They built a homemade system, protecting a water pump with a grocery cart and running pipes to the drain outside.
“All the water is coming from those two little pumps,” Smith said.
Streets in northern Miami-Dade were mainly fine on Tuesday but there were signs of preparation, like sandbags at homes that were once flooded in Aventura.
More preps:
Miami Beach is laying pumps and trimming trees. At Haulover Marina, the charter boat crews are battening down with their livelihoods on the line in every big storm.
“Any wind is no good for a boat; any amount of rain can be catastrophic,” Stan Saffan, a charter boat captain, said.
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