King tide flooding hits fourth day in Fort Lauderdale as boat show opens, snarling traffic

King Tides flooded streets in parts of Fort Lauderdale for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, creating heavy traffic congestion during crunch time for the opening of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.The flooding prompted the closure of the Las Olas Bridge earlier in the week, forcing drivers onto alternate routes and causing severe gridlock along 17th Street and Sunrise Boulevard."Getting down here, king tides made it a little bit more difficult; I have never seen it that high," said Zachary Oppenheim, who is marking his 21st year at the event. "The Las Olas Bridge was shut down, so a lot of people had to turn around and be able to get through. 17th Street was quite the headache. And the same thing to go up to Sunrise Boulevard. It's only a two-lane road with heavy traffic. I mean, the congestion was pretty bad."Despite the transit obstacles, show organizers stated the weather created only minor disruptions to overall operations."Ultimately, we still got the show set up a