Disaster record
Fort Lauderdale / South Florida Floods (April 2023)
Two years after the disaster 0 deaths $1.1 billion
Summary
A stalled thunderstorm complex dumped extremely rare rainfall on metro Broward County on April 12, 2023. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport measured 25.91 inches in 24 hours, including about 20 inches between 4 and 10 p.m. The National Weather Service in Miami issued the first flash-flood emergency ever for Broward County. The airport closed for nearly 40 hours. Brightline suspended Miami–Fort Lauderdale service. Broward schools closed. More than 1,000 buildings in Fort Lauderdale took damage. The Associated Press put the story on the national wire that afternoon and evening.
NOAA’s billion-dollar disaster list records the Fort Lauderdale flash flood of April 2023 as 0 deaths. That matches the Storm Events database and Associated Press reporting at the time. The figure was unchanged through April 12, 2025.
Scientific attribution
Scientists discussed climate during the seven-day window. New Scientist, on April 13, treated the downpour as driven in part by a warmer atmosphere, which holds more moisture. Hayley Fowler of Newcastle University and Niklas Boers of the Potsdam Institute described storms that stall in place and rain that gets heavier as the air warms. WLRN and the Miami Herald, on April 17 before noon, cited NCAR’s Andreas Prein and NOAA measurements showing Atlantic sea-surface temperatures about 2°C above normal. There was no World Weather Attribution study of this flood. A warmer climate can make extreme rainfall more likely and heavier. That does not mean climate change was the only cause.
Apr 12, 2023 · Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Dania Beach, and metro Broward County, with impacts across South Florida · flash flooding
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Messaging tallies
About these tallies
“Core Democratic Officials reviewed” shows how many of the 54 Core Democratic Officials have been examined for this disaster. Scoring rules: Methods.
Democratic framing
Summary
No Core Democratic Official named this flood in the seven-day window.
Florida has no Democratic U.S. senators. Local House members did speak. Rep. Jared Moskowitz spoke on April 13. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke after the window. Sen. Sherrod Brown named the Fort Lauderdale rainfall at a May 2 Banking Committee hearing, after the window.
Republican framing
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 23-65 on April 13, 2023, during the seven-day window. He declared a state of emergency in Broward County after more than 25 inches of rain and flooding that hit roads, the airport, hospitals, and schools. He talked about relief and emergency management. He did not mention climate change. No statement from Sens. Marco Rubio or Rick Scott during the window was found.
Statements
- Ron DeSantis (Governor of Florida) — Apr 13, 2023
Sources
- 2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters — NOAA Climate.gov
- Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters — Florida state summary — NOAA NCEI
- 4709-DR-FL Initial Notice — Florida major disaster declaration — FEMA
- Major Disaster Declaration Request — Broward County Flooding — Florida Division of Emergency Management
- Climate change could make freak events like Fort Lauderdale’s rain bomb more common — WLRN / Miami Herald
- Florida floods: How much rain has fallen and could it happen again? — New Scientist
- Storm Events Database — Flash Flood, Broward County, April 12–13 2023 — NOAA NCEI
- MEMORANDUM: Executive Order 23-65 (Emergency Management – Broward County Flooding) — Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
- Torrential storms batter South Florida, close key airport — Associated Press