Residents in Fort Lauderdale’s Victoria Park neighborhood woke up Tuesday to paralyzing floods mainly caused by king tides. 

“It’s usually higher, and it will come to these yards right up to those stairs there,” described Lynette Coleman, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale and told NBC6 the flooding problem is getting worse. 

Coleman, who lives in the Senior Gateway Terrace apartments, walked around Tuesday and pointed out the problematic areas near the intersection of Northeast 7th Street and 20th Avenue.

“One of the most disturbing things I ever saw,” Coleman said. “You can not see the difference between the river and the streets.”

The apartment buildings are nestled along the intercoastal, and the worst of the flooding was during high tide sometime after 9 a.m. King tides are projected for the next several days. 

“It’s been happening for years, but it’s never been this bad,” Coleman said, who added the city put in bigger pipes in order to get rid of the excess water, but not much has changed. 

“It’s salt water, it destroys the foliage and destabilizes the ground,” she said. 

Monica Besa, another resident who lives nearby, was walking around in her rain boots and told NBC6 she felt lucky as the floodwaters had not made it into her apartment.

“This is the price we pay for paradise,” said Kathy Sutter, another long-time Fort Lauderdale resident. 

Sutter now goes out of her way and parks her car on higher ground in case the waters keep rising. 

What are king tides?

King tides are naturally occurring, exceptionally high tides that happen a few times a year when the sun, moon and Earth align in a way that amplifies the gravitational pull on our oceans.

These tides typically occur in the fall and early winter, coinciding with the closest point of the moon’s orbit to Earth.

While king tides are not caused by climate change, they highlight the growing challenges coastal communities face from sea level rise.

The same tides that were once a minor inconvenience now regularly flood roads, overwhelm drainage systems, and impact homes and businesses along the coast.