People built in harm's way. Here comes Ian. [View all]

[JoeOtterbein]

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

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.

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