Homes and buildings are collapsing into the ocean and authorities have issued evacuation warnings for some areas as Tropical Storm Nicole pushes a huge volume of ocean water ashore in southeast Florida.
Video from Volusia County shows homes collapsing, crashing, as Nicole’s waves erode the shoreline. Separate video shows the county’s beach safety office collapsing into the rising water.
“Right now, ground zero is here,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood told CNN’s WESH-TV Wednesday as Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.
Three main factors contribute to the dangerous situation on the coast.
Nicole’s storm surge, which peaked at about 6 feet Thursday morning, is significant because of how large the storm was as it approached Florida on Wednesday, with tropical storm-force winds stretching more than 500 miles.
This storm surge pushed ashore on top of the extremely high tides associated with this week’s full moon.
And behind it all, sea levels in this part of Florida have risen more than a foot in the past 100 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and most of that rise has occurred in the past three decades.
Scientists and researchers have long warned that rising sea levels lead to more erosion and high-tide flooding — particularly during extreme coastal storms. This puts even more pressure on sea walls, which protect coastal communities from high waves and water levels.
“We gradually give more stress [sea walls] with sea level rise,” Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, told CNN. “More and more of them are gradually, completely submerged in salt water, which concrete doesn’t like.”
McNoldy also noted that these walls are aging and the nature of storms makes sea walls more vulnerable. Just six weeks ago, Hurricane Ian’s storm surge eroded parts of Florida’s east coast.
“You don’t really need a strong storm – you just need high tides or turbulent tides to wash out or put extra pressure on the walls,” he said. “Having these two storms six weeks apart, if you don’t allow time for repair or replenishment, each storm definitely leaves its mark.”
Many coastal communities in the US experience nuisance flooding or high tide flooding on a regular basis. Higher sea levels, caused by warmer water temperatures and melting glaciers and ice sheets, increase the risks to which coastal residents are exposed.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported in 2019 that by 2050, the United States will experience 25 to 75 days of high-tide flooding.
In addition, the hurricane storm surge is creeping higher, and homes and other critical infrastructure are now exposed to salt water and erosion that they weren’t a few decades ago.
