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SFWMD holds mock hurricane drill for 2018 season

Posted at 6:02 PM, May 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-01 18:02:55-04

One month from Tuesday, we mark the start of hurricane season.

Wind speed gets the headlines, but water is what kills.

That's why the South Florida Water Management District staged a mock drill to prepare for the worst case scenario.

One of the scenarios was a billboard blocking the S155 canal in West Palm Beach. This could possibly cause flooding, impacting hundreds of people nearby.

In the drill today, crews would have to open other structures.

Debris is typically the main concern and today they practiced solving those problems during a storm.

"Relieve flooding there," said Pete Kwiatkowski with the district. "This whole exercise is about shaking the cob webs out."

"This is a mirror image of what Irma gave the district in real life," said Beth McElroy with the South Florida Water Management District.

A lot what learned after Hurricane Irma.

"I think we really learned a lot about how we can manage debris that generated," said McElroy.