HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- Storms wreaked havoc across South Florida Thursday night and Friday morning, with heavy rains flooding roads and strong winds blowing a flower vendor across a parking lot.

Parts of eastern Broward County and northeast Miami-Dade County were bailing out the water after strong rains pounded coastal neighborhoods throughout the night.

On Sunday, Chuck Lanza, Director of the Broward Emergency Operations Center, said a team from FEMA will be in South Florida to survey the extent of the damage.

The weather service estimated that 7 to 14 inches of water fell in some neighborhoods.

Wind Blows Woman, Flower Stand Down

In northern Miami-Dade County on Friday morning, the wind posed a major problem for a flower vendor at 163rd Street and Biscayne Boulevard. The storm knocked over a woman selling flowers, sweeping her across the parking lot of a gas station and yanking the blue awning tarp from her stand out of its anchors.

Witnesses said a tornado spawned the blast of wind, but experts have not confirmed there was a tornado.

Now, Elisa Penton, who works at the same flower stand, said all the blooms had to be trashed. A new batch of flowers were brought later in the afternoon.

The woman who was blown over was taken to a hospital, but she is expected to be OK, Local 10's Glenna Milberg reported.

The typically heavy traffic in North Miami's main corridors slowed to a frustrating crawl as the water flowed faster than storm drains could drink it up. Some drivers' cars stopped dead.

By mid-afternoon, workers rigged pumps in at least one of the flooded shopping center parking lots in order to help drivers leave.

Hallandale Beach, Aventura Among Hardest Hit

Along the streets in Aventura and Hallandale Beach, tow truck after tow truck could be seen hauling away flooded-out vehicles lining the roadways.

The water flooded some businesses in Aventura and swamped parking lots. By noon on Friday, the water was still several inches deep in some areas, coming up to the hoods of some cars.

Florida Power and Light was working to repair some power outages, as police officers directed traffic at intersections where the lights were not working.

Every office at Keyes Real Estate in Aventura had inches of water soaking the carpet, and some computer units on the floor were damaged. Employees of the business also had an incident Thursday night.

"We had our holiday party at Christine Lee's at Gulfstream and some of us were told that our cars were under water. Actually, we wanted to take a cab home, and they couldn't even get the taxicabs in until about 1 o'clock in the morning," said a Keyes employee.

At A Nose for Clothes next door, expensive dresses now have water lines on them.

"It was unbelievable. I almost started to cry. I've been here 29 years, and it's bad. It's all covered in water," said an employee.

Witnesses at the Camden community said they saw a 26-foot boat sink in an hour. Its owner was nowhere to be found, Local 10's Jeff Weinsier reported.

Despite the mess, many people were still out shopping, causing gridlock in the flooded parking lots.

In Hallandale Beach, the storm caused the roof to collapse at a business at Northwest Second Street and Third Avenue.

The area of Northeast 14th Avenue and Moffett Street in Hallandale Beach had deep flooding, and the waters still covered the roads by Friday evening.

Hallandale Beach Division Fire Chief Richard Stover said the city had more than 200 fire calls and 400 law enforcement calls as a result of the storm by noon Friday.

"So far, some of the areas have had a reduction of approximately one foot of water," Stover said at about 11:30 a.m. Friday. "We still have some areas that are heavily under water, and the county emergency management and the city of Hallandale Beach are asking that residents that do not have a need to be on the road please stay off the road and when you see barricades in the area, please understand that's for local traffic only."

Stover said drivers should not drive through standing water.

The American Red Cross said it helped a family of five that was displaced when the roof of their home caved in overnight in northeast Miami-Dade County.

The American Red Cross opened a shelter early Friday to help people who were displaced by the storms and flooding on Thursday night in South Florida. The organization said that about 30 people stayed at the shelter at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center on Friday morning, and those who were still there in the morning were given breakfast.

Homes Flooded In Hollywood

Several streets in the residential neighborhoods of Hollywood had several feet of standing water.

A once-infamous flooding location just east of U.S. 1 in southern Hollywood had streets filled with water again Friday morning. The city put in special pumps five or six years ago in the neighborhood, and there have been no major floods since -- until Thursday night's storm, Local 10's Roger Lohse reported.

Homeowner Gary Rondell said he tried to stack cardboard and wood in front of his door to keep the water out. It was working for a while, but by 2 a.m., the water started coming in, filling at least one room of his house with a foot of water.

"I'd gone beyond trying to save any more damage. We just thought let's get out as much furniture as we could," Rondell said.

After the storm, 14th Avenue became a watery graveyard of stalled-out cars, one of which was filled inside with water up to its dashboard.

City crews began working at sunrise to clear the debris and set up temporary pumps to remove the water, but it was still raining on Friday.

Hollywood officials announced Friday that they have activated part of the city's Emergency Operations Center. According to the city, the worst flooding in Hollywood is on Lee Street between 14th Avenue and West Lake Drive, 14th Avenue north of Taft Street, 14th Avenue south from Polk Street to Hollywood Boulevard, 13th Avenue from Jackson Street South to Funston Street and also Diplomat Parkway.

Mobile Home Residents Evacuated

Excessive flooding forced several residents out of their Pembroke Park homes on Friday.

With water reaching more than 15 inches deep in some places, it was hard to tell where the road began and ended at one Pembroke Park mobile home community. With roads washed out, fire crews had to rescue about half a dozen people.

Resident Janie Durkee was evacuated from her home Friday Morning.

"I got ready and the fire truck brought me out," she said.

Residents said this is the first time in 15 years water levels have gotten this high.

About a dozen families at the Park View Motel also were told to evacuate after the floodwaters and sewage made the place unlivable.

"All of our clothes, possessions, everything is gone, and there is nothing we can do about it," said resident Rochelle Stanley.

Those who were displaced have found refuge at the American Red Cross Shelter in Hallandale Beach. It is not clear when the residents will be allowed to return to their homes.

Floods Close Powerline Road In Pompano Beach

The flooding caused problems for drivers in Pompano Beach, forcing police to close Powerline Road just north of Copans Road.

Because of the bad weather, four Spirit Airlines flights on their way to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were diverted to Palm Beach International Airport overnight. The passengers from those flights were being bused to Fort Lauderdale Friday morning. Some of them still needed to catch connecting flights to their final destinations.

The Miami Metrozoo announced it would be closed for the rest of the day Friday due to the weather.

"I wish we had an Ark," Metrozoo's Ron Magill told JustNews.com. "We could certainly use it today. We are actually closing the zoo today, which is extremely rare (except for hurricanes)."