The annual king tides are rising in South Florida, causing some flooding in coastal areas. By Joey Flechas
miamiherald.com - by David Smiley - June 9, 2017
. . . In order to save Shorecrest, where million-dollar homeowners mingle with middle-class families and blue-collar renters, government officials across the region are now asking whether it ought to be redesigned rather than simply reinforced. Where climate change poster child Miami Beach is investing $500 million in pumps, streets and sea walls in order to fight for every inch of dry land, municipalities on the mainland are exploring what some communities would look like if they were made to accommodate rising seas rather than simply fight them.
One idea likely to be both controversial and expensive: demolishing properties and returning developed areas back to nature.
Fish are seen washed ashore after dying in a red tide in Captiva, Florida, on Aug. 3, 2018.Cristobal Herrera / EPA file
Doctors in southwest Florida say they've seen an increase in patients complaining of breathing problems.
nbcnews.com - by Annie Rose Ramos - September 2, 2018
. . . The red tide . . . poses a health risk to people. The microorganisms emit brevetoxins, which can get blown into the air. When the toxins are breathed in, they constrict passages in the lungs, causing people to cough and have difficulty breathing.
An ongoing red tide is killing wildlife throughout Florida’s southwest coast and has left beaches littered with dead fish, sea turtles, manatees and a whale shark. Additional footage courtesy of Southwest Florida TV via Facebook.
bradenton.com - by Mark Young - August 24, 2018
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reporting an outbreak of Trichodesmium, sometimes called a brown tide, in waters offshore of Manatee County.
It is a separate species but similar to the well documented Karenia brevis, a photosynthetic organism responsible for the persistent red tide hitting Manatee and other nearby counties along 130 miles of coastline. Concerns are now being raised that if the two blooms merge, it could essentially deepen an ongoing red tide.
cbsnews.com - by Manuel Bojorquez - August 2, 2018
Thousands of fish, eels and turtles are dying, sometimes as far as the eye can see, in parts of southwest Florida . . . The suspected culprit is a toxic algae bloom known as "red tide."
. . . The toxins can also be harmful to humans, causing respiratory illnesses for some beachgoers.
. . . Warmer waters and runoff from lakes and streams can fuel the problem.
Dead marine life is washing up on the west coast of Florida. The culprit is a massive red tide algae bloom. The algae can also cause respiratory problems in humans. WPEC-TV meteorologist Jeff Berardelli joins CBSN with more on what's causing the bloom and what is being done to clean it up.
The Fall Term 2017 Grand Jury is releasing this report during Hurricane Season 2018, approximately one-and-a-half-months shy of the one year anniversary of Hurricane Irma making landfall in South Florida. Based on information we received regarding the preparation for and the aftermath of Hurricane Irma’s impact on South Florida, this Grand Jury decided to conduct an investigation of this topic.
Beginning in 2012, in an effort coordinated by University of Central Florida’s (UCF’s) Florida Solar Energy Center in collaboration with the Florida Office of Energy, Florida’s SunSmart E-Shelter Program has equipped more than 100 public schools with small PV systems and batteries, which are sufficient to keep lights and electrical outlets operating during a grid-disrupting natural disaster. This enables these schools to serve as self-powered places of refuge for communities across the state, providing emergency shelter for 100-500 people per site.
A virus first found in Tampa Bay-area mosquitoes that can cause a rash and mild fever has been identified in humans for the first time, according to University of Florida researchers.
miaminewtimes.com - by Jerry Iannelli - May 2, 2018
In the long, hot, powerless days after Hurricane Irma, Miamians grew all sorts of irate at Florida Power & Light, South Florida's largest electricity company. After sweltering for more than a week without power, a group of sweaty Miami-area residents sued FPL last year over the widespread outages after the storm.
Despite the fact that FPL says it spent more than $3 billion hardening its power grid after Hurricane Wilma hit in 2005, 4.4 million of the company's 4.9 million customers (about 90 percent) lost power during last year's hurricane despite the fact that Miami ended up avoiding sustained hurricane-force winds. In their class-action lawsuit against FPL, filed in county court September 26, the residents alleged the company misspent those storm-hardening funds.
