Flooding in one South Florida neighborhood is reviving a familiar fear — even after the rain stops, passing cars can send damaging waves toward nearby homes, according to WPLG.
In Dania Beach, Meadowbrook Lakes Condominiums president Tom Heyen said the added surge has turned a recurring nuisance into a multimillion-dollar housing problem.
Here's what to know
At Meadowbrook Lakes Condominiums, residents know the danger doesn't end with standing water.
After heavy South Florida rain flooded parts of Dania Beach, including near Southeast 10th Street and Second Avenue, where people were seen helping a stranded vehicle, neighbors also focused on the waves created when cars drive through the water.
Heyen told WPLG that flooding has troubled the area for years.
He specifically pointed to April 2023 as the moment the problem became impossible to ignore.
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Residents were forced out of their homes for at least seven months while renovations were completed after flooding ruined 45 first-floor units, a loss estimated at $6 million.
"The damage of people driving too fast to houses or condos and cars is crazy," Heyen stated.
Worsening extreme weather disasters are causing compounding problems across the United States and the planet.
When residents are displaced for months, the fallout extends far beyond cleanup, destabilizing household budgets, community safety, and public health.
What's being done?
Dania Beach has a stormwater master plan intended to keep rainwater away from homes, but Heyen told the outlet that his neighborhood still hasn't seen it work.
While those larger improvements remain pending, Heyen wants a quicker response: shutting the road outside the complex to through traffic when heavy rain is in the forecast so fewer vehicles direct floodwater toward nearby homes, condos, and cars.
Short-term measures such as temporary road closures, warning barriers, and traffic enforcement can limit damage while larger drainage and stormwater upgrades remain pending.
However, cities need resilient infrastructure that moves water away from residential areas before it reaches living spaces.
For Heyen, the standoff with the city has been draining.
It's "just frustration because I've been battling with the city for two, three years," he said, adding that the goal was simply "to keep people from roaring through here and causing waves and damage."
Where can I learn more?
For a broader look at flood risks threatening homes and streets in Florida and beyond, these stories add context to what residents in Dania Beach are facing. They cover rising seas in South Florida, flood protection steps, sewage-tainted floodwater, and inland hurricane damage.
• Across South Florida, rising sea levels have worsened neighborhood flooding and left residents fearing mounting property losses.
• Savannah leaders urged homeowners to cut their flood risk before hurricane season brings water indoors.
• In coastal Georgia, sewer spills in floodwater have added contamination to streets that already flood often.
• After Helene, Appalachian families saw whole downtowns washed away, and flood recovery moved slowly.
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