Bacteria skyrockets to 100 times beyond safe levels in some Fort Lauderdale canals after historic flooding

The Sun Sentinel reported on the fecal bacteria that surged through Fort Lauderdale’s waterways after April’s record flooding, drawing on Miami Waterkeeper’s sampling: all 10 sites we tested ran 38 to 144 times the EPA’s safe swimming limit, peaking at 10,112 units at Himmarshee Canal — 37 times the level of a used toilet. Our water quality specialist Aliza Karim warned against contact with the water: “We’ve never seen this many sites fail above 1,000, ever.”