HURRICANE season kicked off with a bang as the first named storm of the season barreled through South Florida.
Parts of Florida experienced severe flooding and rainy weather as Tropical Storm Alex passed through the state and moved toward Bermuda.
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The storm sustained tropical-storm-force winds as it moved off the east coast into the Atlantic, reports NBC6.
Hours after the storm had passed, the roads of Miami-Dade county were flooded with water leaving many cars stranded.
There were multiple reports of cars that were flooded and had to get towed from where they were.
First responders used high water rescue vehicles to assist people to safety who were stranded in the waters.
The storm dropped 12 inches of rain on downtown Miami and over nine and a half inches on South Miami.
George Rodriguez told the news crew that one of his cars was completely flooded, and he parked his work truck around the corner to spare it from damage.
Severe flooding also found its way inside homes.
Hector Costa showed cameras the inside of his flooded garage. Some items were floating in the ankle-deep water.
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“This one is the third time it happened. We called the city, you know, but nothing happened,” Costa told the outlet.
Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber said the storm tested the system of drainage pumps that were installed in the city recently, reports US News.
“We moved the water off pretty quickly, but in some areas, obviously, it was really challenging,” Gelber said.
“There were some problems getting through on some streets, one of the main arteries was unpassable, but by and large water is dissipating.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor, Danielle Levine-Cava, also said the flooding was due to storm drains that weren’t working properly, causing water to come back up through the drains.
The National Hurricane Center forecasters said on Sunday morning Alex has maximum sustained winds of 50mph, and is moving northeast at 22mph.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially started on June 1. This is an unusually early start to the season, but it’s not unprecedented in Florida.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that this season will be “above-normal” and is expecting 14 to 21 named storms.
AGATHA RIPS THROUGH MEXICO
Alex formed from the leftovers of hurricane Agatha, which plowed through Mexico as a category 2 hurricane.
The coastal town of Puerto Angel in Oaxaca, Mexico, recorded 70mph winds on Monday evening.
At least 11 people were killed and 20 are missing after the massive storm caused dangerous flooding and mudslides.
Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said rivers overflowed their banks and swept away people in homes while other victims were buried under mud and rocks.
Murat said there are reports of three children missing near the resort of Huatulco.
“There were fundamentally two reasons” for the deaths, Murat told local media.
“There were rivers that overflowed, and on the other hand, and the most serious part, were landslides.”
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