Heavy Rains Batter South Florida, Closing Roads and Grounding Flights

Heavy rains battered South Florida on Wednesday, closing major roads, stranding vehicles, forcing delays and cancellations at airports and causing flash flooding in the Fort Lauderdale and Miami areas.

The severe weather, which began on Tuesday, is the result of a cold front “parked” over parts of the state that has dumped more than 10 inches of rain in some areas, Anthony Reynes, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said Wednesday afternoon.

Flash flooding has been reported from Fort Lauderdale to downtown Miami, he added, noting that major urban areas, including some homes, had been inundated with water, and that many vehicles had been stranded. As of Wednesday evening, more than 10 inches of rain had fallen in Hollywood, Fla., more than nine inches in Fort Lauderdale, and about eight inches in Miami, Mr. Reynes said.

The Weather Service had not received any reports of injuries or deaths, he said.

Part of Interstate 95 was shuttered in Broward County because of the flooding. Hundreds of flights at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were either delayed or canceled, according to flightaware.com. Roadways at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport could also become inundated, the airport warned. Footage posted to social media appeared to show swamped shopping strips and cars submerged in the floodwaters, including at an indoor parking lot.

Plans to begin demolishing Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a former student killed 17 people in 2018, were postponed from Thursday to Friday, school officials said.