NO ONE WANTS A HOUSE FULL OF WATER
After a harrowing experience with high water in our neighborhood last month, I would like to thank Governor DeSantis for signing this week the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience bill. The bill expands Florida’s resilience funding program, establishes a Statewide Office of Resilience and appoints a Chief Resilience Officer — all needed now as we suffer more frequently through flooding from devastating rainstorms, King Tides and more.
The timing couldn’t be better. Hurricane season begins in less than a month, but few people in my part of South Florida feel ready. With all the changes in tides and weather around the State, I’ve heard people say ominously “the water is coming.” Where I live, it’s already here.
Last week, dozens of cars were backed up in my neighborhood by sunny day flooding. Salt water was coming up fast from the storm drains, and soon it was up over the hubcaps. If we hadn’t backed out of there, we’d have been stuck, or maybe even totaled, as some of those cars were soon to be. Salt water and automotive electronics are not a good mix.
In some of our Florida communities, you can literally stand around in the bright sunshine and watch the water rise up toward your kneecaps. A beautiful dry morning above, and disaster lurking below. It defies credibility.
We are always surprised to see people out in their driveways trying to pump water out of their garages, while trying to reach the utilities help line on their cell phones. Hanging out in wet shoes, the neighbors show us the mud lines on their walls, some over a foot high. The clean-up could take weeks.
Out on the road, the tow trucks are busy. I hear one driver say to another: “This climate change is going to be good for business.” Other businesses that will thrive in South Florida if we don’t get ahead of the water: carpet cleaners, debris removal, moving vans.
We are grateful to Governor DeSantis for signing House Bill 7053, and supporting the climate resilience measures needed all over the state. It’s a thoughtful piece of legislation, one that can serve each and every Floridian without conflict. Whether you live near the coast or inland, in an apartment building, condo or house, things are getting wetter. Roads, garages, patios, porches and anything under Base Flood Elevation requirements will need to be elevated, floodproofed or both.
We heard an official say recently that there is little point in protecting infrastructure and critical assets like hospitals and firehouses if there won’t be any residents nearby to use them.
There are many steps people can take to protect their homes from flooding, yet we all know that no one can achieve true protection from flooding alone. We need partners, we need our State, our cities, our counties, businesses, NGOs and all stakeholders to pitch in and help.
The Governor knows that true climate adaptation will be a team effort. A city can install bigger drainage pipes, but if they outfall into the Intracoastal or other waterways below the water line, as many now do, they cannot drain the streets until the tide goes out. Higher, bigger pipes are needed, elevated homes and streets, permeable pavements, bioswales and other innovative water drainage measures. There are so many good ideas, and so little time.
We appreciate that Governor DeSantis has signed this bill into law, so that more of us, especially homeowners, can participate in the effort to protect our Florida communities from the rising water. On behalf of the next generation, let’s not stop there. Protecting Florida with timely and effective resilience measures will be an ongoing undertaking. If we’re all pulling together, we’ll get it done in time.
