People built in harm's way. Here comes Ian.

[JoeOtterbein]

[link:https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/27/hurricane-ian-florida-desantis-climate-00059146|Politico

Development has flocked to coasts that are susceptible to powerful storms, just as it has to wildfire-prone parts of the West.

By ZACK COLMAN

09/27/2022 07:33 PM EDT

Updated: 09/27/2022 10:16 PM EDT

Florida’s densely populated, low-lying Gulf Coast offers a warning for other communities where development has expanded into territory vulnerable to climate-linked disasters like Hurricane Ian.

The Category 3 hurricane, projected to make landfall as early as Wednesday, is aiming toward a stretch of coast south of Tampa Bay where condo buildings and single-family homes crowd barrier islands and inland communities vulnerable to flooding. Along with Ian’s dangerous winds and the risk of flash floods, a special worry is the coast’s susceptibility to storm surge — a phenomenon that scientists say climate change has worsened.

“It’s No. 1 on everybody’s list,” said Albert Slap, president of Boca Raton, Fla.-based firm Coastal Risk Consulting. “The backbone of our economy is where people live and work. What Mother Nature is putting out to us is different — we’re not living in our parents’ climate anymore.”

The National Hurricane Center warned Tuesday that Ian could bring as much as 12 feet of storm surge to a wide stretch of shoreline south of Tampa Bay, including Sarasota and Charlotte counties — as well as 4 to 6 feet along the bay itself, where cities such as Tampa and St. Petersburg would be especially vulnerable to catastrophic flooding if a storm struck them directly.

snip]

more at link

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Climate change and 30+ years of Republican political control.

The aftermath will be quite illuminating.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Surprise, surprise!

Hurricanes happen. They often hit places near the ocean, especially near the Caribbean. Sometimes they hit Florida. Sometimes they hit Texas. Sometimes they hit Louisiana. Shall I go on?

It's not as though hurricanes never struck Florida before this. What kind of rock are people living under?

[Captain Zero]

3. I'm surprised Insurance companies are still writing policies there

But the day they say they can't write there anymore is when climate change will become very real.

[raccoon]

7. Some of the insurance companies have stopped. Nt

[3Hotdogs]

5. The thing of it is, global warming comes with storms of increased intensity.

Yes, most regions of the county/world have experienced storms. And extreme storms.

But not with the frequency we see today.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. We are supposed to go to Marco this spring.

Our rich friends bought a $4 million dollar house right on the water - is it a canal?

I have a feeling our trip will be canceled. Marco looks like it will get the storm surge.

[WarGamer]

12. Marco Island gonna get hammered.

[SalamanderSleeps]

6. Water is very unforgiving.

The Gulf of Mexico is actually pretty shallow and therefore warm.

While on the other side of the Florida peninsula the Atlantic is deep and cold.

As the planet warms Florida is going to be in the cross-hairs again, and again, and again.

Florida will start hemorrhaging people soon.

It's just a matter of time.

[Brenda]

8. I agree.

It's disgusting that there are still to this day developers building condos and houses anywhere on the Florida coast. The greedy cities don't want to lose their tax base but they're heading for a major economic collapse by not even attempting to slow down the insane growth.

The caravans of climate migration that affect all US citizens are not those from Venezuela but from the coasts and western states.

[HAB911]

9. As long as the flood insurance program continues to insure

suicidal building in these areas, it will not stop. Why should it? Insurance will replace it at our expense.

[Irish_Dem]

10. US taxpayers rebuild beach mansions over and over.

[HAB911]

13. the very definition of insanity

[WarGamer]

11. Marco Island may be decimated....

Beautiful multi million dollar homes about to be 5' under water.