DeSantis Declares Emergency Over Floods After Cutting Stormwater Funds

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Wednesday for five counties due to heavy flooding in southern Florida just the day after he cut $205 million in stormwater, wastewater, and sewer projects from the state's budget.

Heavy rains caused by a disorganized tropical system have inundated southern and western Florida since Tuesday, bringing more than a foot of rain in places and disrupting road and air travel throughout the area. The Weather Prediction Center (WPC), part of the National Weather Service, put southern Florida under a rare 4 out of 4 high risk of flooding on Thursday as rains were expected to continue there, and warned that it could be "locally catastrophic."

The rains "transformed roads into canals and caused water to seep into homes," CNN reported, while a tow truck driver in Fort Lauderdale told The Associated Press that abandoned cars everywhere reminded him of "zombie movie."

The extreme weather prompted state Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-37) to criticize DeSantis' budget cut.

"As I’m sitting here stuck on a Brightline train because of flooding in my district, all those stormwater projects he cut look pretty stupid right now,” Pizzo told the AP.

DeSantis cut the $205 million from the budget amid other cuts that he made Tuesday in finalizing the state budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year that begins on July 1, Tampa Bay Times reported.

In May, DeSantis signed a bill that removes most references to climate change from state law and streamlines fossil fuel development projects—"Don't Say Climate Change," the bill's critics have called it, including a meteorologist who spoke up against it on air. On the day he signed the legislation, Key West was a record-setting 115°F.

Florida is particularly vulnerable to rising seas and to extreme weather, including hurricanes and tropical storms, made more likely and more intense by climate change.

DeSantis on Wednesday declared emergencies in the counties of Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota. Two people died and three were injured in a weather-related car accident in Collier County, The New York Times reported. The flooding closed part of Interstate 95 and limited flight schedules at two major airports, Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that the 2024 hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends on November 30, will be worse than normal.