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FEMA Flood Maps Ignore Climate Change, and Homeowners Are Paying the Price

           

The flood maps don’t factor in sea level rise or changes in extreme weather, and many are years out of date. In Mexico Beach, 'minimal-risk' homes were swept away.

insideclimatenews.org - by James Bruggers - November 1, 2018

The official map laid it out for more than 200 homes within the community of Mexico Beach, Florida: the federal government had characterized their flooding risks as minimal, despite their near-beachfront locations.

That meant for them there were no requirements to buy flood insurance, and local residents say many did not.

When Hurricane Michael and its 155-mile-per-hour winds slammed into the town on Oct. 10, with a storm surge of perhaps 19 feet, the result was devastation. An analysis by coastal geologists from Western Carolina University has found that 70 percent of the homes were demolished. Another 10 percent were severely damaged.

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Red Tide Confirmed in Miami-Dade, and Some Beaches Have Been Closed

           

Red Tide has caused scores of dead sea-life to wash up on beaches in Southwest Florida. Footage shows scenes from Boca Grande beach on July 28 - by Jeremy Judkins via Storyful

miamiherald.com - BY DAVID J. NEAL, DOUGLAS HANKS AND JENNY STALETOVICH - October 4, 2018

A red tide that has sloshed up and down the Gulf Coast for nearly a year, leaving a wake of dead sea life, murky water and stinky beaches, has now landed on the state’s most crowded shores with the toxic algae confirmed Thursday in Miami-Dade County.

While far more milder than what’s appeared on the west coast — algae levels that cause blooms have not climbed above moderate so far — the spread raises concerns about a deepening crisis in a state already battling a summerlong blue green algae in Lake Okeechobee.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Florida confirms toxic red tide spreading along Atlantic coast

 

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Mainland Miami Ponders Returning Neighborhoods to Nature In Order To Survive Rising Seas

           

The annual king tides are rising in South Florida, causing some flooding in coastal areas.  By Joey Flechas

miamiherald.com - by David Smiley - June 9, 2017

 . . . In order to save Shorecrest, where million-dollar homeowners mingle with middle-class families and blue-collar renters, government officials across the region are now asking whether it ought to be redesigned rather than simply reinforced. Where climate change poster child Miami Beach is investing $500 million in pumps, streets and sea walls in order to fight for every inch of dry land, municipalities on the mainland are exploring what some communities would look like if they were made to accommodate rising seas rather than simply fight them.

One idea likely to be both controversial and expensive: demolishing properties and returning developed areas back to nature.

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As Florida's Toxic Red Tide Stretches On, Residents Report Health Problems

           

Fish are seen washed ashore after dying in a red tide in Captiva, Florida, on Aug. 3, 2018.Cristobal Herrera / EPA file

Doctors in southwest Florida say they've seen an increase in patients complaining of breathing problems.

nbcnews.com - by Annie Rose Ramos - September 2, 2018

 . . . The red tide . . . poses a health risk to people. The microorganisms emit brevetoxins, which can get blown into the air. When the toxins are breathed in, they constrict passages in the lungs, causing people to cough and have difficulty breathing.

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Worst "Red Tide" Toxic Algae Bloom in Years Killing Turtles, Manatees in Florida

           

cbsnews.com - by Manuel Bojorquez - August 2, 2018

Thousands of fish, eels and turtles are dying, sometimes as far as the eye can see, in parts of southwest Florida . . . The suspected culprit is a toxic algae bloom known as "red tide."

 . . . The toxins can also be harmful to humans, causing respiratory illnesses for some beachgoers.

 . . . Warmer waters and runoff from lakes and streams can fuel the problem.

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Red Tide Algae Bloom Killing Marine Life Off Florida Coast

cbsnews.com - August 3, 2018

Dead marine life is washing up on the west coast of Florida. The culprit is a massive red tide algae bloom. The algae can also cause respiratory problems in humans. WPEC-TV meteorologist Jeff Berardelli joins CBSN with more on what's causing the bloom and what is being done to clean it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olPO84amiZY

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Everglades Under Threat as Florida's Mangroves Face Death by Rising Sea Level

           

The Everglades wilderness has already been reduced by half by the construction of dams and canals and to accommodate a booming population. Photograph: Getty Images

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - SE Saline Everglades Transgressive Sedimentation in Response to Historic Acceleration in Sea-Level Rise: A Viable Marker for the Base of the Anthropocene?

The ‘river of grass’ wilderness and coastal communities are in peril, with the buffer coastal ecosystems on a ‘death march’ inland

theguardian.com - by Oliver Milman - May 2, 2018

Florida’s mangroves have been forced into a hasty retreat by sea level rise and now face being drowned, imperiling coastal communities and the prized Everglades wetlands, researchers have found.

Mangroves in south-east Florida in an area studied by the researchers have been on a “death march” inland as they edge away from the swelling ocean but have now hit a manmade levee and are likely to be submerged by water within 30 years, according to the Florida International University analysis.

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Motel Misery: Hundreds Fled Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico Only to End Up Functionally Homeless in Florida

           

cnn.com - by John D. Sutter - additional reporting by Cristian Arroyo - photograph by Jayme Gershen for CNN - April 20, 2018

With no running water, no power and no school for her kids, Carmen "Millie" Santiago fled Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean last fall. Like thousands of evacuees, she landed here in central Florida. And, like hundreds, she's still stuck in a motel.

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Miami Waterkeeper - FPL Turkey Point

           

miamiwaterkeeper.org

In the first week of March 2016, the Division of Environmental Resource Management (DERM) of Miami-Dade County released a report showing that water from the cooling canals at FPL’s nuclear power plant, located at Turkey Point, is contaminating Biscayne Bay. The canals are also contaminating the Biscayne Aquifer, which is an underground water storage area that is the sole source of drinking water for millions of South Florida residents. Hypersaline (super salty) water laden with tritium (a radioactive isotope), phosphorous, and ammonia is passing through our porous limestone geology and into our water both above and below ground.

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ALSO SEE RELATED INFORMATION WITHIN THE LINK BELOW . . .

http://southflorida.resiliencesystem.org/fpl-nuclear-plant-canals-leaking-biscayne-bay-study-confirms

 

 

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