Irma Storm Surge Provides Floridians With A Preview Of Their Inescapable Future
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In Jacksonville, Irma has left a more drastic legacy. By midday yesterday, authorities were reporting water levels on the St. Johns River at 60.4 inches above normal high tide, breaking a half-century record set by Hurricane Dora, when the St. Johns rose 49 inches above average high tide in 1964. The storm surge came atop nearly a foot of rain that fell over Jacksonville and its population of 1.5 million early yesterday.
Authorities began evacuating stranded residents from properties in low-lying districts before high tide occurred at 2 p.m. EDT. The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning for parts of four counties in northeast Florida until last night, saying floodwaters could rise 4 to 6 feet above ground level.
"Parts of those neighborhoods already look like they've been claimed by the St. Johns, which in downtown is a brackish river heavily influenced by ocean tides," The Florida Times-Union reported shortly after noon yesterday.
Fallen branches covered neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County, but the worst damage seemed to be the occasional tree laid across a back street or tugging down utility lines. Across the Biscayne Bay, evacuated Miami Beach residents walked past the checkpoints where police stopped vehicles. Waves crested just below the edge of the MacArthur Causeway as people shouldered sacks and trundled suitcases along the empty highway's outer lane. Miami Beach ranks among the American cities most vulnerable to climate change, and officials have outlined an ambitious plan to install several dozen pumps. Irma's storm surge reportedly reached as high as 3 to 4 feet, according to city officials. But some residents said they had seen worse flooding from ordinary storms.
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