In a battle against Mother Nature, she’ll always win

opinions

April 1, 2014 - 12:00 AM

Sea levels off Florida have risen to the point they are infiltrating city sewer systems.
In an effort to battle the rising tide, massive levee systems costing hundreds of millions of dollars are in the works.
Climate change affects the Earth’s oceans in two ways: Warmer temperatures cause water to expand, and melting icebergs and glaciers add to its volume.
In south Florida, engineers predict sea levels will rise three to seven inches by 2030 and nine to 24 inches by 2060.
Today, engineers are planning updates to local utilities, sewage and water treatment plants, and transportation departments in efforts to retrofit their departments to accommodate higher water levels.
Home and business owners in the area will see dramatically increased flood insurance rates, as will you and I in Kansas, though at lesser amounts. Local rates for flood insurance are expected to go up by about 20 percent in efforts to help plug the hemorrhaging National Flood Insurance Program, which is an estimated $24 billion in debt.
Ever since it was enacted in 1973, the NFIP has failed to collect as much as it doles out to satisfy claims.
Hurricanes Katrina, Irene, Isaac and Sandy were cumulatively the last straw. In 2012, the Biggert-Waters Act was enacted to shift the financial risk of insuring flood-prone properties from taxpayers to the private market.
If you are inclined to build a $1 million home along the Atlantic coastline, then you can bear the expense of higher insurance premiums, the logic went.
In late January, a majority of senators had a change of heart, thanks to lobbying efforts like heavyweight Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, which took the brunt of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It’s interesting to note Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, which also suffered heavy damage and deaths from Hurricane Sandy, favored programs that would provide incentives for those along the shore to move inland. Such funding to relocate flood victims will be heavily diluted if the Biggert-Waters Act is emasculated.
The legislation still needs approval by the House before it can be sent to the president.
Common sense says it’s crazy to live so close to shore.
But there are those who can’t think of living anywhere else and are willing to play the odds. 
That line of thinking causes serious problems. In Miami, for example, its water canal system depends on gravity to carry excess water out into the ocean. So when it rains, the water is released into bays and estuaries and eventually into the ocean. With an annual rainfall of 62 inches, the Miami area has considerable need for an effective system to keep its streets from flooding.
Because of the rising sea levels, city engineers can no longer rely on gravity to carry excess water out to sea. Now, pumps will be installed to move the water out to sea. The price tag is $400 million.
Would it be so radical instead to move the city farther inland? It’s not as if there’s not more of Florida.

THE MOST effective way to curb people from living on flood-prone land is to make insurance premiums prohibitively expensive. With maximum coverage for a domestic dwelling at $250,000, it seems a $60,000 annual premium would give pause. The coverage for non-residential buildings tops out at $500,000.
Designated flood zones are meant to protect people from building in hazardous areas. Increased premiums would put teeth in the warnings.
— Susan Lynn

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