by Stephanie Wesseling, American Red Cross Public Affairs

Nicknamed the "unofficial mayor of the town" for this cheerful disposition, Carlos Alicea was in good spirits on Saturday, June 15, despite flood waters nearly reaching the doorsteps of his home in the Green Acres Mobile Home Park in Hallandale Beach.

Last week, South Florida experienced torrential rainfall causing catastrophic flooding, with some neighborhoods in North Miami and south Broward receiving over 20 inches of rain.

"It went up to about the second step," says Alicea. Nearly 16" of rain accumulated in the Green Acres community, stopping a few inches shy of flooding his home.

Like many across Miami-Dade and Broward County, Alicea's car was not so fortunate. Water seeped into the car, so he intends to wait for the sun to dry it out before he attempts to start the ignition.

Photos and videos of cars floating down flooded roads were common across social media last week. It only takes 12 inches of rain to wash away a small car.

Alicea is a veteran and served during the Vietnam War. He is originally from New York and moved to South Florida in 2000. He's acclimated to the hot and humid Florida weather, but the water also flooded his air-conditioning unit.

"I'll tell you, it's hot in there. Luckily, I have fans and a little portable A/C," he says.

Right now, Alicea is more concerned about his cat, Garfield. The cat is used to roaming the community and visiting with neighbors. Streets in the Green Acres community still have standing water, so Garfield is understandably upset that he cannot leave home for his daily stroll.

"He loves everybody. He is the park cat," Alicea says.

For the second day in a row, Red Crossers were in the Green Acres community delivering water, ready-to-eat meals and clean-up kits.

With his car flooded, Alicea has been unable to re-stock groceries and supplies. He happily accepted the meals offered by volunteers.

"Thank you for coming around and looking out for us," he says.

Teams of Red Cross volunteers will continue to visit the hardest-hit communities, bringing help and hope to communities affected by last week's severe weather.

Additionally, volunteers will begin assessing the damage left behind by the disastrous floods to better understand the scale and scope of the assistance that will be needed to help families recover.

Help people affected by disasters like floods, tornadoes and countless other crises by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org to donate today.