Hollywood to monitor new seawall panels during king tide period beginning Saturday

South South Lake Drive near the Hollywood Marina has faced persistent flooding for years from king tides, rainfall, and storm drain backup.

On Thursday, city workers installed and tested removable panels across five to six openings in a new seawall designed to keep seawater out.

"They've actually done a fairly good job specifically at the far eastern end of our street to be able to stop the king tides from coming in," said Shawn Fawnshier, a resident living along the street.

During peak king tides, water levels at the end of the street can reach 18 to 20 inches. However, no flooding occurred in the test area Thursday, though water continued to pour into the street further up where panels have not yet been installed.

The system is designed to block seawater during king tides with the panels in place. During heavy rain, workers will remove the panels to allow rainwater to drain into the Intracoastal Waterway.

While neighbors are optimistic about the new barrier, they note the seawall and panels cannot fix water bubbling up through municipal storm drains.

"The biggest issue right now for king tides is more of our stormwater system where it's backing up and flooding our street from the stormwater system and not from the lake anymore," Fawnshier said.

The city will continue monitoring the panels during the latest king tide period starting Saturday. If the system proves successful, officials plan to deploy the panels along other sections of the seawall.

Neighbors witness the impacts

When Nolan Barber heard about the king tides coming, he wanted to see them Sunday morning.

"I've never seen it like this," Barber said.

But he says he didn't want to swim in them. 

"I wouldn't swim in here now because of how strong the waves are. Especially this wave here that probably would have taken me out," Barber said.

The tide picked up later in the morning, and waves washed onto parts of the broadwalk by Johnson Street. Dan Kennedy says his mini sea wall around his beachfront house protected him. 

"If this wasn't already here, we would have put it there. Our house was built in 1932. This was an original," Kennedy said.

If you're ever unsure about the conditions on the beach, you can head to your nearest lifeguard tower. Each has a QR code you can scan to see the tide conditions.

Business lots were washed out and cars were trying to navigate through the seawater when high tide hit around 10:30 a.m.

"If you value your car I'd stay out of the puddles as much as you can," said Ramo Kline of Hollywood Ocean Rescue. "It's not all freshwater; there's saltwater mixed in there as well."

Ocean Rescue says that the water should subside, but says conditions could change by the hour. 

"What we're experiencing right now is a swell from the nor'easter hitting the northeastern United States," Kline said.

Ocean Rescue says they are expecting more rough king tides later in the evening Sunday.