Extreme Floods in South Florida

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In the New York Times article, “The Tide is High but They’re Holding On”, Patricia Mazzei discusses the issue of flooding in Key Largo, Florida. For three months, residents in the Keys have been strategically planning how to leave their homes to go to the grocery store or leave their homes since their streets look more like canals. The flooding is from the super high king tides, which is because of rising sea levels. King tides occur every fall when there is a stronger gravitational pull on the oceans, yet because of the high sea levels, flooding is much worse. According to the article, Hurricane Dorian and other storms impacted the Gulf Stream, thus leading to water backing up in South Florida instead of moving away. The tides have been six to eighteen inches higher than usual. The residents explain that they have never seen flooding this bad or this long; the longest they remember was for twenty two days in 2015. However, this current flooding has been occurring for forty days and forty nights. The water began to lessen, yet it grew again. In addition, the water smells bad. Mazzei describes the water as “like rotten eggs and has brought with it tadpoles, minnows, and algae”. The residents have had to do many car repairs and some people have experienced rashes from the harsh water. There are plans for construction to elevate the roads, yet it will cost at least $1 billion to repair 300 miles of roads. 

This article relates to many topics we have discussed in class; including, feedback loops and the value of a statistical life. This relates to feedback loops since climate change has been the cause of rising sea levels. Rising sea levels is an amplifying feedback loop since seas continue to rise and there is no end in sight. Because of the rising sea levels, king tides will cause even higher flooding like the flooding in South Florida. Additionally, this relates to the value of a statistical life since there is the question of how much the county is willing to spend to elevate to roads so people are able to travel during floods. The residents in the flooded Key Largo towns feel trapped as they don’t want to ruin their cars by driving through the flooded streets. As previously stated, it will cost $1 billion to repair 300 miles of roads, yet it is necessary since the floods might get worse and it can save lives.

 

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