HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The race to drain the flooded streets and neighborhoods across Broward County has hit a setback.
“The stormwater is draining, but it’s putting pressure on the system. So what that is, what people are seeing, is untreated sewer water,” said Joann Hussey of the City of Hollywood.
Wastewater is now spewing from manhole covers and some sewer drains in Hollywood and beyond — because the area’s treatment plant is overwhelmed.
Two days after Tropical Storm Eta pulled away from South Florida, communities are still dealing with water with nowhere to go.
“This is unbelievable. If I didn’t have an SUV, I could not have gone to work. I work at the hospital,” Pembroke Pines resident Blair Stanton said.
The backup of stormwater is evident in Fort Lauderdale too, at the Sunset Memorial Gardens cemetery.
“Today is Veterans Day and I come out here and this is what’s going on,” said Elaine Harding, who was visiting her parents' gravesite, among those that are entirely underwater. “All of these graves over here, this is the veterans' side where all these people served. My dad, he was in the Army, and its just kind of like disrespectful.”
A pump truck was onsite, tackling the problem as officials caution residents to help ease pressure on the system.
Residents of in Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Miramar, Pembroke Park and southern Broward County are being urged to conserve wastewater.
“Avoid flushing their toilet as much as they typically do, take a shorter shower,” Hussey said. “Hold off on doing laundry and running the dishwasher for a day or two — all that collective effort will help to alleviate the problem quicker.”
Pembroke Pines resident Stacey Miller said she can’t get to her mailbox without getting wet.
The road in front of her townhouse in the Parkview subdivision of Towngate is one of many areas flooded.
“Everyone has dogs in this neighborhood. It’s really hard to walk them,” she said.
The line separating the lake from the road has been blurred on Northwest 155th Avenue in Pembroke Pines because the water level is so high.
“The association sent out a letter or an email saying that the Broward drainage district and another company are pumping out as much as possible,” Miller said.
Elsewhere in Pines, the water got into people’s cars and homes, and even backed up toilets and bathtubs, forcing businesses to close.
“We couldn’t flush, so we couldn’t have anybody in here,” said Don Terrien of Golden Crown Billiards.
According to a city of Hollywood news release, “the Southern Regional Wastewater treatment plant operated by the City of Hollywood that serves six cities and portions of Broward County usually processes less than 55 million gallons of wastewater per day, but due to the storm is experiencing flows of well over 100 million gallons.”
City officials say the massive amount of groundwater and stormwater is infiltrating wastewater systems and creating backups.
Fort Lauderdale’s Melrose Park neighborhood is also dealing with poor drainage.
“I missed the road. Water so high,” one man said.
The floodwater is a hazard for drivers and pedestrians.
“I seen a girl just walking by and all of the sudden, she just disappeared. She actually fell into a deep hole from, I guess, the mud,” one woman said.
The South Florida Water Management District is monitoring the canal levels and says the water level is going down, but it could take days for all the water to recede.