A stalled weather system dumped up to 3 inches of rain per hour on Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach throughout the evening Dec. 17.

By some estimates, total accumulation had reached a foot of water. Other sources put the rainfall at 9 inches by 11 p.m. Aventura Mall was reporting 7.5 inches at 10:30 p.m. In any case, most estimates had the Aventura area as the hardest hit with more rain expected after midnight.

Water was up to two feet deep in some of the usually moisture-challenged roadways. The Weather Channel found the situation so unusual that it had a live report from the intersection of Hallandale Beach Boulevard and Biscayne Boulevard where stalled cars blocked traffic and stranded motorists walked barefoot among the cars.