FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As part of a larger, $1.6 billion plan, Fort Lauderdale officials unveiled a $67.8 million stormwater pump Tuesday that’s designed to protect two low-lying neighborhoods from severe floods.
The pump has the capacity to handle nearly 11,000 gallons per minute, taking flood water out of the Durrs and Dorsey Riverbend neighborhoods while capturing debris and sediment, preventing pollutants and trash from entering adjacent waterways.
“We’re entering the rainy season,” Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Pam Beasley-Pittman said. “Whew. Thank you. We got this done.”
The pump, which Beasley-Pittman said will bring “faster drainage, safer streets and greater peace of mind for families and businesses,” also features a backup generator, an electrical building and a transformer pad on site.
Three years prior, the two neighborhoods were one of several in Fort Lauderdale left inundated after record-breaking rain.
“I’ve never seen so much water in my life,” Dorsey Riverbend resident Zachary Bailey said. “It was actually knee-deep.”
The pump project is just one of many the city plans to complete over the next decade.
“This project is just a milestone,” Fort Lauderdale City Manager Rickelle Williams said. “We have many more to go.”
It’s part of the “Fortify Lauderdale” initiative, which is being broken into two phases.
Crews have finished projects in two other low-lying neighborhoods: Edgewood and River Oaks.
Up next to complete phase one will be the Progresso, Victoria Park, Southeast Isles and Melrose Manors neighborhoods. Those projects are expected to be complete within three years.
By 2034, city officials say they hope to have projects done in more than a dozen more neighborhoods.
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