Brackish water infused with leaves, garbage and fertilizers crept up the legs of people standing in suits and skirts in downtown Fort Lauderdale Monday morning.
Broward county officials - along with academics from Florida Atlantic University and private sector entrepreneurs - willingly gathered on the corner of Las Olas Boulevard and 25th Avenue.
U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch got a close up look at the flooding caused by king tides.
“If standing in this water on a beautiful South Florida morning doesn’t tell us that it’s time we start investing in environmental infrastructure to protect our communities, then I don’t think anything will,” said Deutch.
The group stressed that flooding will get worse as South Florida sea levels rise due to climate change, and that communities need to start engineering solutions now.
Deutch vowed to take that message back to Washington.
