"In A Few Decades, Waterfront Properties In Ft. Lauderdale Will Flood For Days Or Weeks At A Time"

[hatrack]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Along the canals that slice through downtown Fort Lauderdale, dozens of freshly razed lots sit ready for construction, many nestled next to historic riverfront mansions and yachts bobbing dockside. Cranes and half-built high-rises tower overhead. Everywhere, there are signs that this mid-size city of 170,000 is thinking big.

Mayor Jack Seiler says the goal is to turn Fort Lauderdale into “the city you never want to leave.” The population is expected to grow by a third, more than 50,000 people, in the next 15 years. Nearly 5,500 apartments and condos are, or will soon be, under construction and developers are seeking to build another 2,400 units in the next few years. The city processed 26,000 building permits with a construction value of $1.8 billion last year alone.

But as the coastal city's skyline climbs upward, Fort Lauderdale—nicknamed the Venice of America for its 165 miles of canals—is slowly becoming an edifice of risk as climate change lays siege to its shores. Already, water regularly creeps over sea walls, lapping against foundations every few weeks. When the earth, moon and sun align to drive waters as much as 18 inches above normal, the resulting King Tides inundate whole streets and neighborhoods. The city is racing to put climate resiliency measures in place, but they face a nearly impossible foe.

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“There are winners and losers,” said Keren Bolter, a climate scientist who grew up here and studies sea level rise. “But in a few decades, most waterfront properties in Fort Lauderdale will flood for days, weeks at a time.” Yet construction continues unabated, often without any thought of long-term climate impacts. The risks will be borne not only by developers splurging on the region’s extraordinary building boom, but by millionaires already ensconced on prime lots lapped by high tides and on the working poor who inhabit the soggy areas along verdant inland canals. “See that house right there—the white ranch-style one?” Bolter said one day in late November, during a balmy, sundrenched ride on a yellow water taxi through Fort Lauderdale's waterways. She glanced at her smartphone to consult a database compiled by her company, Coastal Risk Consulting. “That property flooded 11 days last year. By the late 2030s it could have water on its property 267 days per year.”

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http://insideclimatenews.org/news/01032016/ft-lauderdale-climate-change-global-warming-rising-sea-level

[patricia92243]

1. We live in the middle of the state. My son said in a few year it would be waterfront property. Of

course, he was only joking - sort of.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Plus, the summer monsoon rains will add to increased street flooding.

When I first moved to Fla. I did not understand why roadside ditches were so wide and so deep.
Until the first summer rainstorm.
and almost every day after that, like clockwork.

Thunder storms down here can produce incredible amounts of rain, much more than the ground can absorb.
That is why there are usually flood warnings along with storm warnings.