Easy Targets

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Oct. 8, 2022

Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida as a category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, up to 17 inches of rain, and storm surges ranging from 9 to 12 feet. As this is being written, The Associated Press is now reporting more than 100 deaths in Florida directly related to Ian. The property damage, which in many areas is total, may reach losses of more than $100 billion.

Even though Ian formed quickly and intensified even quicker, there aren’t enough dots to connect it directly to climate change. September hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico are not especially rare, and Florida is the most common target. The National Hurricane Center lists 247 hurricanes or tropical storms that have made landfall or otherwise directly impacted Florida since just 1950. Go back another century, and since 1850 there have been only 18 years when such a storm did not impact Florida.

At the same time, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), the rains which accompany Gulf hurricanes are becoming more severe, adding significantly to both the damage wrought and deaths caused. Such storms are now producing, on average, about 10 percent more rain than they did just 25 years ago.

It’s that rain and storm surges that cause the flooding. NWS records indicate 88 percent of hurricane related deaths since 1947 have been caused by flooding, not wind. That is a particular problem in Florida, and human activity has certainly exacerbated it.

Florida is, by far, the flattest state. Its highest point is a scant 345 feet above sea level, and much of it is only a few feet above the water. Miami, for example, is only 6.5 feet above sea level, which is why it is in great danger as sea levels continue to rise. (Traverse City, by comparison, is 626 feet above sea level, and the surrounding hills, pushed up by glaciers, are much higher still.)

Indigenous people who lived in the southern part of what is now Florida had adapted to living in the wetlands we now call the Everglades. Farther north, there were wide beaches and small dunes and a series of natural inland waterways.

The Everglades, technically a very slow moving river that was 60 miles wide and 100 miles long flowing from north to south, functioned as a sponge for heavy rains and storm surges. The dunes, which often extended at least half a mile inland, also served to mitigate tides and surges. Additionally, there are more than 4,500 islands off Florida’s coast, many of which qualify as barrier islands, providing another layer of protection. Nature had created its own safety valves, and the indigenous people of the area learned to value and use them.

We Europeans had “better” ideas. First, eliminate the people already there, then start to settle the area and eventually develop the place. We figured the weather was mostly great, the water could be drained, the mosquitoes conquered, and the beaches were just perfect for resorts. None of that likely caused more hurricanes, but we certainly made the impact worse.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, fully half the Everglades have been drained, the wetlands and natural waterways replaced by levees, canals, and irrigation ditches that cleared the way for agriculture and housing. By the 1890s, rail lines had been established and the first Florida resorts were already being built. (In September of 1935, a hurricane killed at least 600 in Florida, including hundreds of Civilian Conservation Corps workers extending rail lines.)

In addition to draining the Everglades, we leveled the dunes and started putting resorts and homes as close to the shore as possible. Then came the highrise condos. We even leveled most of the barrier islands so it was easier to build on them.

Now there are almost no natural barriers of any kind. Nothing could have totally stopped the destruction that came with the monster that was Ian, but barrier islands, dunes, and wetlands would have helped some.

And nature is trying its best to give us some help. If you saw any of the aerial photos of the Fort Myers area, you might have noticed significant amounts of sand were deposited hundreds of yards inland—the beginning of dune restoration. You might have also noticed people refusing to take the hint and beginning the process of removing that sand so they could rebuild on the shore a couple feet above sea level while they await the next storm so they can repeat the process.

Warmer oceans, a function of climate change, help generate tropical storms and hurricanes, but both existed long before we showed up. Meanwhile, we refuse to learn how to mitigate the impact and keep destroying nature trying to rebuild itself and protect us. Where dunes and wetlands used to be will once again be condos and hotels. Easy targets.