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Miami-Dade, Broward mostly spared from Ian’s wrath. Some planes damaged, fencing down

As Hurricane Ian’s ferocious winds and torrential rains came ashore near Fort Myers early Wednesday afternoon, Broward and Miami-Dade County managers looked around and exhaled a giant sigh of relief.

There was some notable damage — a small tornado seemed to hit Miami’s Flagler area and dozens of light planes were nicked up at a small airport in Pembroke Pines — but for the most part, the southeast corner of the state remained intact.

“So far, we’re very lucky that we’ve seen limited damage from the storm,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Wednesday morning. “Our prayers go out to all the communities in the path of the storm.”

The worst damage seemed to be at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, where dozens of planes were flipped over or on their sides. Hangars and the main building also received some structural damage. The National Weather Service confirmed that two tornadoes struck Broward, one at the airport, the other in the Davie area.

“Some trees are down. There’s some flooding and there’s debris on the roadway,” said Broward County Mayor Michael Udine. “But no injuries. No loss of life.”

Young boys play near a damaged screen porch Wednesday, as the residents of Sunshine Village survey the damage and removed debris after a tornado touched ground at the mobile home park in Davie.
Young boys play near a damaged screen porch Wednesday, as the residents of Sunshine Village survey the damage and removed debris after a tornado touched ground at the mobile home park in Davie.

Udine said several traffic lights were out at intersections and urged driver’s to treat them as four-way stops. The mayor also said that though Port Everglades, a major and crucial fuel supply depot, had recorded winds of up to 60 miles per hour, there was no damage and the trucks were running as usual. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport remained open and only about 10,000 people in Broward had lost power.

A tornado also is believed to have struck near a mobile home park in Davie’s Sunshine Village, where at least one carport attached to a home was left a twisted mess of metal. Several traffic lights and some fencing was also down nearby. Cooper City had flooded streets and downed trees.

Delray Beach had some flooding. Fire rescue workers said they had to extract a woman trapped in her bathroom near Kings Point and that it used high water vehicles to evacuate 30 people, including two who were taken to the hospital. They said the problems were caused by a “possible tornado.”

Further south in Miami-Dade, residents seemed to be in better shape. There was no major reported flooding, even in flood-prone and vulnerable Miami Beach, and not much in the way of damage.

A small tornado seemed to have hit a neighborhood in Miami’s Flagler area. Cellphone footage on social media showed a white funnel cloud and a few small light poles and trees on the ground in the Fountainbleau neighborhood. Some fencing had also been torn down.

Bienvenida Rodriguez, 71, on Wednesday recounted the sounds and force of the early morning tornado that damaged multiple homes in Sunshine Village in Davie.
Bienvenida Rodriguez, 71, on Wednesday recounted the sounds and force of the early morning tornado that damaged multiple homes in Sunshine Village in Davie.

Gusts sometimes up to tropical storm force were evident throughout Wednesday in both Broward and Miami-Dade and both counties remained under a tornado watch through 5 p.m. Miami-Dade said they will have a better idea of overall damage after an additional assessment Thursday morning.

Still, Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz said the county had so far avoided flooding because the South Florida Water Management District lowered canals in anticipation of the storm. And Levine Cava urged residents not to turn on the tap unless they have to.

“Use less water,” she said.