Several South Florida communities are preparing for the possibility of flooding over the next several days because of the high tide, including the city of Hollywood.
At Hollywood Beach, crews put out tiger dams again ahead of expected rain and potential flooding.
Luisa Martinez says she’s hoping for the best. She works at Beach Zone, a souvenir store on Hollywood Beach. Martinez said that on the broadwalk, they’re no strangers to flooding. Three weeks ago, it flooded in front of her store.
“It was amazing, we can’t believe. All the water was coming, and they said, ‘Are you scared?’ Of course,” Martinez said.
Even with sandbags, she said water has gone inside the store before.
“We didn’t know about what can I do, but now we are prepared everything,” Martinez said. “We have towels, we have an item to put outside the store, and we have sandbags.”
Hollywood has already seen significant flooding from recent King Tides. City leaders are urging people to prepare by moving their cars to higher ground and protecting their property.
Down the boardwalk, employees at Hausmash are getting used to working at the beach. They’re a newer business, but they think they’re ready for the next high tide.
“I can see there’s still protectors on the beach, and we’re using similar tools to fight, so I believe our ways will work,” Merey Sarybek said.
Martinez said the city has come out to the broadwalk, going store to store, making sure business owners have what they need and are prepared. They’re staying ready now, so they don’t have to get ready when it’s too late.
“We hope that the next day we can open, we don’t know, all depends, of course, the water but we are prepared,” Martinez said.