Photos: Fort Lauderdale Residents Assess Damage Wrought by Historic Flooding

On the morning of Wednesday, April 12, South Florida braced for a day of spring rains. Residents of Fort Lauderdale had little reason to suspect they were in for a deluge the likes of which comes around every 1,000 years.

While parts of Miami-Dade saw up to nine inches of rain that — predictably, if troublingly — inundated streets in flood-prone neighborhoods like Brickell and Edgewater, residents of Fort Lauderdale's own enclave of Edgewood 25 miles to the north suddenly found themselves swamped by nearly 25 inches of rain in 24 hours.

"Driving on airboats through our streets was an interesting phenomenon," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis summed up during a press briefing the following morning, during which he referred to the city as the Venice of Florida. "No city could have planned for this."

Large parts of the city have been underwater because of the unprecedented amount of rainfall," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis summed up in declaring a state of emergency the following morning. "Emergency management crews worked continuously through the night to attend rescue calls. I give my heartfelt thanks to the police officers, firefighters, public works employees, and other city staffers that worked hard through the storm."

Days later, many inhabitants of Edgewood and other Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods say their homes remain uninhabitable. We asked New Times contributing photographer and Broward County resident Michele Eve Sandberg to check in with residents and file a report in visual form.