Story highlights Up to 7 inches of rain fell in Miami area within hours

Flash flooding left residents stranded during rush hour

(CNN) The remnants of Tropical Depression Emily prompted some Miami residents to take to the flooded streets in kayaks.

Though Emily was downgraded from a tropical storm to a depression Monday night and moved out to the Atlantic, heavy rain still hit the Miami-Dade area on Tuesday.

In just a few hours, storms brought between 4-7 inches of nonstop rain across Miami Beach and Miami's downtown, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said. By rush hour, several streets were flooded.

Some drivers ended up stalled out in high waters while others -- not wanting to take a chance -- ditched their cars for kayaks and paddle boards.

A resident kayaking on the flooded streets of Miami Beach on Tuesday.

Piove??? 💦💦💦 #rain #miamibeach #southbeach #sobe #paddleboarding A post shared by Architect & Designer (@giorgiatiberi) on Aug 1, 2017 at 3:06pm PDT

Rains were heavy enough in Miami's downtown and Brickell neighborhoods that manholes could be seen spewing water.</s>Though Emily was downgraded from a tropical storm to a depression Monday night and moved out to the Atlantic, heavy rain still hit the Miami-Dade area on Tuesday.

In just a few hours, storms brought between 4-7 inches of nonstop rain across Miami Beach and Miami's downtown, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said. By rush hour, several streets were flooded.

Some drivers ended up stalled out in high waters while others -- not wanting to take a chance -- ditched their cars for kayaks and paddle boards.

Rains were heavy enough in Miami's downtown and Brickell neighborhoods that manholes could be seen spewing water.</s>The remnants of Tropical Depression Emily prompted some Miami residents to take to the flooded streets in kayaks.

Though Emily was downgraded from a tropical storm to a depression Monday night and moved out to the Atlantic, heavy rain still hit the Miami-Dade area on Tuesday.

In just a few hours, storms brought between 4-7 inches of nonstop rain across Miami Beach and Miami’s downtown, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said. By rush hour, several streets were flooded.

Some drivers ended up stalled out in high waters while others — not wanting to take a chance — ditched their cars for kayaks and paddle boards.

Rains were heavy enough in Miami’s downtown and Brickell neighborhoods that manholes could be seen spewing water.

The rain overpowered the city’s new stormwater system. Miami Beach Assistant City Manager Eric Carpenter told CNN affiliate WPLG that Tuesday’s rain had “significantly higher intensity” than what the system is designed to handle: nearly 8 inches of rainfall and a peak of intensity of around 3 inches per hour.

People were left stranded after work in parts of Miami.

“So … I’m trapped at work,” Instagram user duchess_natasha wrote. “The Publix across the street has closed and sand bagged their doors to keep the water from rushing in. Cars are stalling out along the street. And then you have the guy who made a raft out of a floating barricade. Well, at least there’s food and alcohol here at work.”

The storms began to dissipate Tuesday evening, but there’s still a chance of rain Wednesday “due to lingering moisture in the air and the interaction of the sea breezes,” Guy said.

Florida’s usual sunny skies and hot temperatures will return by Thursday, he added.</s>Well, uh, don't drive in Miami right now. Thanks to the remnants of yesterday's Tropical Storm Emily (which has since weakened to a depression), most of Miami Beach — and a big chunk of downtown Miami — sits under something close to a foot of water right now. Cars can't move, trees have fallen into roads, and a flash-flood warning has been issued for Miami Beach until 5:45 p.m.

Miami social-media users have been posting apocalyptic photos for the last few hours. You currently need an ark to make it through South Beach, and the National Weather Service's Miami office was forced to literally just tweet out the phrase "turn around, don't drown."

Here's a breakdown of which streets in South Beach are blocked off due to flooding — hint: It's all of them.

Frighteningly, some very vital passageways through town are inundated with water: Mt. Sinai Medical Center is getting hit with waves, and I-395 Westbound, one of the main causeways off the barrier island, is submerged:

It's not just Miami Beach: City of Miami Police on the mainland issued a warning about a micro-lake popping up downtown, too:

It also seems that most of Brickell is flooded as well. New Times reader Charlotte Zoda passed the following photos along:

Astoundingly, this is all happening without a tropical storm or hurricane even hitting Miami. Emily barely grazed us — had a storm or a full-on hurricane hit, things would likely look even worse than they do now. That's legitimately scary news: A November report from Miami-Dade County warned that the causeways leading people off Miami Beach are highly vulnerable to flooding due to sea-level rise. That means, as the globe warms over time, it's more and more likely drivers will get trapped on Miami Beach in a storm like this.</s>A day after widespread flooding left parts of Miami-Dade inundated with rain water, the mayors of Miami Beach and the City of Miami said they're working to put systems in place to help prevent another potential disaster.

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said around five and a half inches of rain fell in a matter of a couple hours in the Brickell City Center area Tuesday afternoon, damaging homes and businesses and leaving cars full of water.

"What we saw yesterday was extraordinary. It took everybody by surprise," Regalado said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Regalado said there was also major flooding in Little Havana and several cars were damaged by flooding in front of AmericanAirlines Arena. He said the Brickell City Center garage was still closed Wednesday, while part of the courthouse was also damaged.

Regalado said there are already several water pumps in Miami but that more construction is underway that will provide better drainage to help with sea level rise. The pump system is scheduled to be fully installed by end of the year.

"This is the consequence of nature. We cannot fight nature but we can do something to remedy the consequences," Regalado said.

Meanwhile, in a statement Wednesday, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said he has directed city staff to immediately pursue emergency procurement procedures to install two generators for pump stations to prevent future flooding.

The purchase of the emergency generators was approved in February but Levine said the process to get them has been "bogged down in bureaucratic paralysis."

"As you can understand, this is extremely frustrating and the delay has clearly impacted the progress we've made to address flooding in our city," Levine said.

The heavy rain Tuesday pounded Miami Beach, transforming roads including Collins Avenue into rivers. Levine said the pump system drained the city's flooded streets quickly Wednesday morning. But more needs to be done, he said.

The Miami-Dade Office of Emergency Management is collecting information on the impacts of Tuesday's flooding on the business community.

Business owners who experienced damage or were forced to close their businesses due to flooding were told to report that information through the Business Damage Assessment Survey.

Reports should include insured and uninsured losses to determine if Miami-Dade County meets eligibility requirements for government assistance. When completing the form, owners should select Tropical Storm Emily under the Event/Incident category.</s>MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – My what a difference a day makes for some residents of Miami Beach.

Wednesday they woke to bright blue skies and dry conditions.

It was a very different situation compared to Tuesday when torrential rains from Tropical Depression Emily turned streets to rivers and caused storm drainage pipes to overflow. Nearly half a foot of rain pounded the city right at the height of the high tide.

At the corner of Alton Road and 5th Street, cars created waves from soaked streets. It’s an area which over the years has flooded extensively.

On 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, which is in the heart of the beach away from the actual sands, there was massive flooding there as well.

In recent years, the city made a huge financial commitment to install pumps to combat sea rise and the not so rare down pours. But not all the pumps are installed and a power outage knocked several off line on Tuesday.

“We’re going to be installing permanent generators,” Beach spokeswoman Tonya Daniels told CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald after the flood.

What was noticeable was the water did seem to dissipate quickly, especially compared to previous down pours. The pumps clearly had an impact.

“A severe rain event like we experienced due to Emily is above and beyond the design capacity of our pumps. However, they performed well where they have been installed, which is 15 percent of our city,” Mayor Philip Levine told the Herald.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.</s>It was another Sunday Funday field trip this weekend with my pack of up-for-anything explorers, this time to Lincoln Road and the newly renovated Española Way nearby, arguably the most charming street in Miami Beach.

We used to drive down to Lincoln Road to hire our fashion models. All the agencies were there then, of course, and every single person you saw sitting at a cafe or skating by on Rollerblades was about 17 years old and drop-dead gorgeous. It was unnerving, like you were trespassers in the Land of Perfect Humans. The women all had legs longer than LeBron’s and glowing alabaster skin; the men were so swoon-worthy it was weird. I mean you hardly ever see even one handsome man anywhere, not even in a year, but here were literally hundreds, all with ripply abs and curly hair and glacier-blue eyes. Which is why our then-art director Susan Rosser and I would take ourselves to a really good restaurant for lunch after a casting call; we were determined to eat all the food none of the models had obviously ever tasted, in a kind of tribute ritual.

Lincoln Road back then had a drug store/Botanica we always visited that sold Cuban cigars, a variety of purposeful religious candles, even anti-werewolf powder (because you never know.) There were galleries and tiny ethnic restaurants, even the Miami City Ballet, which had a picture window where you could watch them practice, complete with Edward Villella.

This Sunday, all that was gone.

Some of the old places were there, like Sushi Samba, and Books & Books, wild parrots rustling and squawking in the palms. But we only saw maybe one gallery and a Forever 21 that took up half a block. There were those annoying spa hawkers who try to give you free face cream samples and lure you into a store, restaurant shills shoving menus into your face and roving bands of tourists and families out for a Sunday stroll. The Botanica was long gone, and there were no impossibly beautiful people, either, no ballerinas twirling behind plate glass windows.

This is the New Miami, I thought, which felt a lot like the New Orlando or the New Sarasota.

Española Way was better, but something was still missing. Built as an artists’ colony in the 1920s—and the first commercial street in Miami Beach—the tiny vintage street has completed a $2.5 million restoration, intended to evoke an Old World “Spanish village with large overhangs, thick stucco walls and glazed tile” everywhere. This narrow little street—pedestrians only—still has some of that untapped historic charm—but is almost completely populated by one small café after another, with virtually no retail. Like an elaborate al fresco food court, only better.

We were looking for some trace of boho South Florida we remembered, or felt authentic, wacky, unique, the kind of vibe you could only find in Miami Beach. For some reason, it didn’t show up that day. Maybe we remembered things wrong or maybe we were in all the wrong places.

But we haven’t given up trying to find it again.</s>Yesterday, a glancing blow from the Tropical Depression formerly known as Tropical Storm Emily sent Miami Beach into disorder as some of the worst flooding of the year took place.

When it was all said and done, about seven inches of rain, according to city officials, was dumped on Miami Beach in just about three hours. To add insult to injury, power outages caused parts of the city’s new pump system to fail. The ensuing flooding nearly reached car windows in certain parts of the city. In one Facebook video, a person can be seen paddleboarding through the street (2:15 in the video below).

The whole thing was a chilling omen for Miami Beach. Yesterday’s storm was bad—sure—but the city has seen (and surely will see again) storms much worse and much longer. If three hours could catch Miami Beach off guard, what will happen when an actual hurricane rolls through?

Many local businesses were forced to close for at least the afternoon. Pubbelly Sushi posted a video showing their entire dining room soaked in a few inches of water.

Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine posted a statement yesterday acknowledging the damage while reminding his constituents that only 15 percent of the city is covered by the new pump system.

“The new system is designed to handle 7.5 inches of rainfall with a peak intensity of just under 3 inches per hour,” the statement read. “Today, our city saw peak rainfall intensities of greater than 7 inches per hour. This is more than double the new design capacity.”

Be that as it may, Miami Beach has some serious planning to do. Going forward, we're going to need more than just paddle boards. Because it's not a matter of if this will happen again; it's a matter of when.

Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.</s>MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - The Coast Guard has rescued four people from the water near Miami Beach, Thursday.

The Coast Guard Station Miami Beach received a call at approximately 12:39 p.m. reporting a 15-foot pleasure boat was taking on water in the area of Card Sound.

The rescue crews arrived on scene at about 1 p.m. They pulled four people from the water, who were all wearing life jackets.

SeaTow Miami arrived on scene, took the vessel in tow and transferred the survivors to Watson Island.

No injuries or medical concerns were reported as a result of this incident.

Copyright 2017 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Let’s be, um, blunt: This isn’t your abuela’s guide to Miami. This might not even be your black-sheep-of-the-family primo’s guide to Miami. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Whether you call it weed, pot, dope, bud, kush, grass, ganja, Mary Jane, reefer, chronic, herb, green, or even broccoli, one thing potheads and stoners agree on is that a good high is only as good as the location and the people. Although getting stoned in your apartment in Kendall might sound appealing after you sat in rush-hour traffic for more than an hour on the Palmetto, we promise you there are spots in Miami where you're guaranteed a good high time. Plus, you might even get to explore a part of the city you’ve never seen.

Scroll down, pick your poison, gather your friends in the group text, and order your Uber. Here’s your ultimate guide to going out stoned in Miami.

1. Gramps. Between trivia night and Villain Theater on Tuesdays, bingo night on Wednesdays, karaoke night on Thursdays, Friday Nite Live, and live performances throughout the weekend, this indoor-outdoor bar scores our top spot. Plus, with room to roam, dim lighting, a food truck (Ms. Cheezious!) parked outside on the weekend for when you get the munchies, and an awesome patio with unique seating arrangements, some of which are even blocked from clear view by walls, bushes, or a stage (very subtle), this Wynwood gem is a no-brainer. 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-2669; gramps.com. Sunday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.

2. Wood Tavern. Although even your dad has probably heard of Wood Tavern at this point, there’s a reason a line snakes out the entrance every single weekend. From their large patio, complete with nearly a dozen communal tables, two wooden bleachers full of young people vibing and mingling, a makeshift dance floor, a DJ posted up in a colorful booth, large murals, and, best of all, tacos, you can’t go wrong with Wood Tavern. Did we mention tacos? Yeah, tacos. Munchies level: Expert. 2531 NW Second Ave., Miami; 305-748-2828; woodtavern.com. Tuesday through Saturday 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., Sunday 3 p.m. to midnight, Monday closed.

3. Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science. As SNL's Stefan would say, Miami’s brand-new, multimillion-dollar science museum has it all: an impressive shark tank, state-of-the-art laser shows, and a light-up dance floor that responds to your steps with trippy special effects. Plus, the Frost Planetarium, with 16-million-color 8K projections, surround sound, and a 67-foot dome screen, takes you on dazzling visual odysseys to outer space. The dome is tilted forward at 23.5 degrees, allowing it to fill your field of vision as if you’re flying — imagery comes at you from above, below, and the periphery, creating a nearly 360-degree view of whatever world you’re in. You'll leave feeling stoned whether you've smoked or not. 1101 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-434-9600; frostscience.org. Monday through Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

4. Haulover Beach Park. With food truck nights on Tuesdays, families playing sports, kite-flying, clear waters, a clean beach — one that’s much less crowded than South Beach — and breathtaking views of the sunset, this beach park is perfect for relaxing after getting a buzz. Haulover also boasts a stretch of clothing-optional beach. Therefore, if you forget to pack a swimsuit or are trying to avoid tan lines, this place is for you. And if you're there during "dog beach" hours, it's for your furry best friend too. 10800 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-947-3525; miamiandbeaches.com. Sunrise to sunset.

5. O Cinema. If your ideal night usually involves Netflix and a couch, switch it up by watching an independent film at O Cinema. With three locations in Miami, including one right next to the Wynwood Yard, the cinema combines the chill vibes you crave while giving you a treat for your eyes on the screen. Plus, you’ll be supporting independent film and a locally owned theater. 90 NW 29th St., Miami; 305-571-9970; o-cinema.org. Thursday through Friday 6 p.m. to midnight, Saturday through Sunday 2 p.m. to midnight.



6. Sweat Records. One of the best record stores in Miami, Sweat Records provides the exact atmosphere many people crave when they’re a little stoned yet want to do something culturally interesting. You can lose yourself in a large collection of vinyl records, ranging from classic rock 'n’ roll to contemporary pop. You can snack at a coffee shop that sells tea and vegan snacks nestled right inside. Or you can simply zone out to whatever hip music is playing while you're there. This spot might become a new go-to for lovers of music and weed. Plus, when the shop closes, you can head next door to Churchill’s Pub, where you can catch a live performance and grab a drink. 5505 NE Second Ave., Miami; 786-693-9309; sweatrecordsmiami.com. Monday through Saturday noon to 10 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

7. Zoo Miami. This might sound cliché, but being high at the zoo is fun. Although this option might not be ideal during the hot summer, casually strolling through the zoo while enthusiastically taking Snapchat videos of all the animals and leisurely reading the plaques next to each animal habitat will have you feeling stress-free. 12400 SW 152nd St., Miami; 305-251-0400; zoomiami.org. Monday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

8. Matheson Hammock Park. Just off of scenic Old Cutler Road in Coral Gables is the relaxing and beautiful Matheson Hammock Park. This place is so pretty it's often used for quinceañera pictures. With a beach, kayak and kiteboarding rentals, picnic benches, lakes, and even the romantic restaurant Red Fish Grill overlooking the water, Matheson Hammock is the perfect park for those looking for a classy, peaceful vibe. 9610 Old Cutler Rd., Miami; 305-665-5475; miamidade.gov. The park is open sunrise to sunset; Red Fish Grill is open 6 to 10 p.m. weekdays except Monday (when it's closed) and 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

9. Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. From bike rentals and picnic areas to a restaurant and historic lighthouse, this park is a favorite for many reasons. Relax on the beach, crack up at all of the grouchy-looking iguanas eyeing you, or set up a barbecue while taking in the breathtaking scenery. Pro tip: Climb to the top of the Cape Florida Lighthouse to catch the sunset. 1200 Crandon Blvd., Key Biscayne; 305-361-5811; floridastateparks.org. Monday through Sunday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

10. Hobie Island Beach Park. Last but not least, we had to include this nostalgic spot on “the Key,” where countless South Florida teens have smoked for the first time, right below the Rickenbacker Causeway. Don’t let the bustling cars overhead deter you, because this beach is always packed with families, dogs, and teens as people wait to catch the sunset behind the gorgeous Miami skyline. You’ll seriously feel like a teenager again. 3501 Rickenbacker Cswy., Key Biscayne; 305-361-2833; miamiandbeaches.com. Sunrise to sunset.
Several streets in Miami and Miami Beach are underwater after Tropical Depression Emily causes 102 to 178 millimetres of rain overnight.