South Florida is pummeled by record rainfall with more downpours to come

Florida has declared a state of emergency for southern parts of the state as record downpours disrupted flights at major airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and prompted the partial closing of the I-95 freeway. Governor Ron DeSantis declared the emergency in counties including Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Lee and Sarasota, citing forecasts of additional heavy rain and thunderstorms over the coming days that would exacerbate ongoing flood conditions. On Wednesday afternoon, more than 50% of the flights in and out of Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were either delayed or canceled, with similar figures for Miami International Airport, according to Flight Aware. Already, several daily rainfall records were set on Tuesday, including 6.47 inches (16 centimeters) in the Sarasota-Bradenton area and 3.3 inches in Fort Lauderdale, the National Weather Service said. Miami International Airport got 3.59 inches, just shy of the all-time high for that date. <br/>