Historical Storm Impacts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The storms with the heaviest measured impact on Fort Lauderdale are the Category 4 hurricane of September 17, 1947, Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, Hurricane Irma in September 2017 and the April 12, 2023 rain flood (NWS Miami history).

Each row comes from a different official product: NWS Miami history and climate pages for 1947, the National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Reports for 2005 and 2017, and NWS Miami Public Information Statements for 2023 (NHC Wilma report; NWS Miami statements, April 2023). The wind events and the rain event differ in cause: the hurricanes brought wind and coastal water, while NWS Miami traces the April 2023 flood to a slow-moving frontal boundary combined with a deepening low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico (NWS Miami flood survey).

NWS Miami says the September 17, 1947 hurricane made landfall near Fort Lauderdale as a Category 4, with a maximum reported one-minute sustained wind of 155 mph at the Hillsboro Lighthouse (NWS Miami history page).

NWS Miami describes it as a very large Cape Verde storm that came ashore in the morning, then moved west very slowly, around 10 mph, and exited the state near Naples late that night. It was the first of two hurricanes to strike South Florida that year; the second came ashore near Cape Sable on October 11, 1947, and produced tremendous flooding from torrential rainfall as well as at least two tornadoes (NWS Miami).

The rain record shows the same season. On the NWS Fort Lauderdale Area list of wettest days, October 12, 1947, the day after the Cape Sable landfall, ranks third with 10.85 inches, and October 5, 1948, follows with 10.45 inches. On the wettest-year list, 1947 ranks second at 102.36 inches, behind only 2023 at 113.61, on a Fort Lauderdale record that runs continuously from 1912 (NWS Miami climate records).

In 2005 Fort Lauderdale took two hurricanes two months apart: Katrina came ashore as a Category 1 near the Miami-Dade and Broward line on August 25, and Wilma crossed from the Gulf coast on October 24 (NHC Katrina report).

Katrina made its first U.S. landfall with 70 kt winds at about 2230 UTC on August 25, 2005. North of the center, over northern Miami-Dade and Broward, rainfall was generally 2 to 4 inches, and the report attributes three of the direct deaths in Florida to trees falling in Broward County (National Hurricane Center).

Wilma came ashore near Cape Romano at about 1030 UTC on October 24, 2005, with winds near 105 kt, and crossed the southern peninsula in 4.5 hours, the center emerging into the Atlantic just southeast of Jupiter. The NHC concluded that parts of Broward likely had Category 2 conditions, with gusts near 100 kt. The Fort Lauderdale airport station (KFLL) logged a pressure of 961.4 mb, a 61 kt sustained wind, an 86 kt gust and 3.04 inches of rain, and Pompano Beach Airport quit reporting at 72 kt (NHC Wilma report).

Wilma also stands out for power loss across South Florida. The NHC calls it the largest disruption to electrical service ever experienced in Florida, cites media reports that up to 98 percent of South Florida lost power, and gives insured damage of $10.3 billion (NHC). FEMA declared Broward County a major disaster on October 24, 2005, as DR-1609, with the Individuals and Households Program declared (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Irma brought Fort Lauderdale near-hurricane winds and 2 to 4 feet of coastal flooding on September 10, 2017, the day its center made landfall near Marco Island on the southwest coast (NHC Irma report).

The NHC report says nearly every inland station in the Miami-Dade and Broward metro area reported sustained winds just below hurricane force, while a gust of 97 kt was measured at Deerfield Beach. At Fort Lauderdale International (KFLL) the minimum pressure was 989.0 mb with a 46 kt sustained wind and a 61 kt gust; Fort Lauderdale Executive (KFXE) recorded 989.5 mb, 53 kt, a 72 kt gust and 9.57 inches of rain (National Hurricane Center).

Water rose on the Broward coast as well. Maximum inundation reached 2 to 4 feet above ground in coastal northern Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, and a sensor on a canal in Pompano Beach recorded 3.4 feet NAVD88. Across the Miami to Fort Lauderdale metro area the report describes widespread tree and power pole damage (NHC Irma report). FEMA declared DR-4337 on September 10, 2017, the same day, with the Individuals and Households Program declared for Broward County (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Fort Lauderdale received 25.91 inches in the 24 hours ending 7 AM on April 13, 2023, by the preliminary NWS Miami count, and the deepest standing water was surveyed in Edgewood, just north of the airport (NWS Miami Public Information Statements).

The NWS Miami statement issued at 930 AM on April 13, 2023, listed Fort Lauderdale at 25.91 inches through 7 AM, Hollywood 2.2 SE at 18.16 through 7 AM and Dania Beach at 17.30 through 9:10 AM. The follow-up flood survey measured a still water mark just over 3 feet at a building at Floyd Hull Stadium, found 1 to 2 feet of water near and north of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, and reported the New River less than a foot from its banks (NWS Miami).

Two official numbers circulate for that day, and they measure different things. The preliminary 25.91 inches covered the 24 hours ending at 7 AM on April 13, while the NWS Fort Lauderdale Area list of wettest days, last updated July 11, 2024, gives 22.5 inches for April 12, 2023, far above the second-ranked 14.59 inches of April 25, 1979 (NWS Miami climate records).

FEMA recorded the event as DR-4709, Florida Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, with an incident period of April 12 to 14, 2023, and a declaration date of April 27, 2023 (FEMA DR-4709). Of the Broward storm and flooding declarations since 1965 that name no tropical storm or hurricane, it is the only one with the Individuals and Households Program declared (FEMA OpenFEMA).

FEMA lists 14 hurricane-related major disaster declarations for Broward County from Hurricane Betsy in 1965 to Hurricane Milton in 2024, and only Frances, Wilma and Irma among them had the Individuals and Households Program declared (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Most Broward hurricane declarations were issued without the Individuals and Households Program, so the last column of the table separates the storms that opened that program to Broward households from the rest. Ian and Milton, both Gulf coast landfalls, still reached Broward County on the federal list (FEMA OpenFEMA). The FEMA records go back only to the 1960s, so the 1947 hurricane has no declaration.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, by re-reading the NHC Tropical Cyclone Reports for Katrina, Wilma and Irma, the NWS Miami history and Fort Lauderdale climate pages, the April 2023 NWS Miami statements and the FEMA declaration records for Broward County.