6 ms·

It is a long title as is, but should read Miami Beach. Rising sea levels are an interesting question for barrier islands like Miami Beach and Florida as a whol

It is a long title as is, but should read Miami Beach. Rising sea levels are an interesting question for barrier islands like Miami Beach and Florida as a whole. Though its important to also understand some of these articles unfairly paint sea level rise and climate change as responsible for a new phenomenon, the truth is Miami Beach has always flooded (during full moons water can rise right up through the ground). Not to mention Hurricanes, but truthfully Miami Beach has been sparred for the most part considering all the potential direct hits over the years and the fact that Andrew was a relatively dry hurricane. Al things considered, the engineering has always been impressive and continues to improve, just look at pre/post Hurricane Andrew codes. Does the Miami Beach flood, sure, but no more than say Charleston, South Carolina. Or have you ever drove on a road that wasn't cracked in NOLA because the salt, (its actually below sea level), Miami Beach doesn't have that issue. I will say this about the article, it doesn't even bother pretending or discussing how Miami Beach/Miami/Florida might position itself to take a leadership position issues of climate change and sea level rise. Moreover, there is almost an acknowledgement and reading between the lines of the money going into development as a scam on foreign investors...personally, I think that is pretty far off, but I can't help but admit such a fraud would be so Miami that it would be poetic.

bubbleRefuge 10y ago
You are so right. We've allways had water come in on high tides. The risk is hurricanes and storm surge, that is why flood insurance is so high on miami beach. (BTW its feels like hurricane frequency is in a downtrend) I just purchased a place on the intercoastal waterway in miami beach after selling my palce in west broward burbs. Flood insurance is around $2500 per year. Windstorm/Homeowners is $4500. Burbs was like 350 per year for flood.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  > The risk is hurricanes and storm surge, that is why flood insurance is so high on miami beach. This nails it. Miami Beach real estate values will decline as soon as insurance companies throw up their hands and refuse to insure the losses. Can't insure, can't finance a property.
  - cmurf 10y ago
    It's a similar problem with mountain (forest) homes and forest fires.
  - arafa 10y ago
    Citizens Insurance is the insurance of last resort in FL and is paid by taxpayers to deal with this situation. You can always get it. The best you can hope for is the rates go up enough for Citizens Insurance to make these properties less valuable. Don't hold your breath though. Relevant link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-insurers-sofla-market-share-20160626-story.html http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-insurers-so...
kls 10y ago
Miami Beach has always flooded (during full moons water can rise right up through the ground). I have lived in FL all my life (41 years), my family spans back 12 generations from me. King tides are nothing new, nor is Miami flooding during them. I live in the Keys which is lower lying than Miami beach but we have the safety of the barrier reef that mellows the tidal changes, this is just a sensational piece due to a rare but historically recurring event. Miami is not flooding for good, we are in a weather cycle coming off El Nino into a lunar cycle, it happens from time to time. It's not exactly intellectually honest to attribute a known phenomenon (King tides, which is the reason Miami is currently flooded) to climate change. It was not climate change in the 1800's when the old timers dealt with them. This is not meant to be a dissertation on climate change, rather to highlight pieces like this do more damage than good to the arguments that climate change science presents when items like this are highlighted as the predicted outcomes.
- xapata 10y ago
  The article mentions king tides and cites a report [0] that the floods are getting worse. [0] http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/new-study-shows-increased-flooding-accelerated-sea-level-rise-in-miami-over http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/n...
  - kls 10y ago
    The floods are worse this year because we have a combination of El Nino weakening the gulf stream which in a normal year has some effect on pushing tides longitudinal as well as flattening them and King tides which are caused by a lunar event, not anything terrestrial. It is an unusually event for sure but has historically happened before. This is a combination of two natural phenomena, nothing more nothing less. It should not be attributed to climate change which has it's own real concerns. Climate change is not contributing to the current situation of Miami being flooded. Attributing it to it, does more to discredit climate change and give voice to fear mongering than it does to further it's cause.
    - dv_dt 10y ago
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
hackuser 10y ago
> the truth is Miami Beach has always flooded (during full moons water can rise right up through the ground The article clearly states that already; the point of the article, for which it provides ample evidence, is that the flooding has become much worse.

bubbleRefuge 10y ago

You are so right. We've allways had water come in on high tides. The risk is hurricanes and storm surge, that is why flood insurance is so high on miami beach. (BTW its feels like hurricane frequency is in a downtrend) I just purchased a place on the intercoastal waterway in miami beach after selling my palce in west broward burbs. Flood insurance is around $2500 per year. Windstorm/Homeowners is $4500. Burbs was like 350 per year for flood.

toomuchtodo 10y ago
> The risk is hurricanes and storm surge, that is why flood insurance is so high on miami beach. This nails it. Miami Beach real estate values will decline as soon as insurance companies throw up their hands and refuse to insure the losses. Can't insure, can't finance a property.
- cmurf 10y ago
  It's a similar problem with mountain (forest) homes and forest fires.
- arafa 10y ago
  Citizens Insurance is the insurance of last resort in FL and is paid by taxpayers to deal with this situation. You can always get it. The best you can hope for is the rates go up enough for Citizens Insurance to make these properties less valuable. Don't hold your breath though. Relevant link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-insurers-sofla-market-share-20160626-story.html http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-insurers-so...

kls 10y ago

Miami Beach has always flooded (during full moons water can rise right up through the ground). I have lived in FL all my life (41 years), my family spans back 12 generations from me. King tides are nothing new, nor is Miami flooding during them. I live in the Keys which is lower lying than Miami beach but we have the safety of the barrier reef that mellows the tidal changes, this is just a sensational piece due to a rare but historically recurring event. Miami is not flooding for good, we are in a weather cycle coming off El Nino into a lunar cycle, it happens from time to time. It's not exactly intellectually honest to attribute a known phenomenon (King tides, which is the reason Miami is currently flooded) to climate change. It was not climate change in the 1800's when the old timers dealt with them. This is not meant to be a dissertation on climate change, rather to highlight pieces like this do more damage than good to the arguments that climate change science presents when items like this are highlighted as the predicted outcomes.

xapata 10y ago
The article mentions king tides and cites a report [0] that the floods are getting worse. [0] http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/new-study-shows-increased-flooding-accelerated-sea-level-rise-in-miami-over http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/n...
- kls 10y ago
  The floods are worse this year because we have a combination of El Nino weakening the gulf stream which in a normal year has some effect on pushing tides longitudinal as well as flattening them and King tides which are caused by a lunar event, not anything terrestrial. It is an unusually event for sure but has historically happened before. This is a combination of two natural phenomena, nothing more nothing less. It should not be attributed to climate change which has it's own real concerns. Climate change is not contributing to the current situation of Miami being flooded. Attributing it to it, does more to discredit climate change and give voice to fear mongering than it does to further it's cause.
  - dv_dt 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

hackuser 10y ago

> the truth is Miami Beach has always flooded (during full moons water can rise right up through the ground The article clearly states that already; the point of the article, for which it provides ample evidence, is that the flooding has become much worse.