Hurricane Nicole a ‘warning shot’ over sea level rise, expert says

MIAMI – Widespread flooding and beach erosion from Hurricane Nicole put sea level rise back in the spotlight here in South Florida.

The problem is only predicted to get worse as the climate gets warmer.

A researcher who used to serve on the city of Miami’s Climate Resilience Committee called the storm a “warning shot.”

“(It was) a unique situation that brought a lot of elevated sea level across a huge swath of the coast,” Patrick Rynne, the CEO of Waterlust, said.

Rynne earned a doctorate degree in Applied Marine Physics—a fancy way of saying he’s an expert on where and how water moves.

Rynne said to see so much surface flooding and beach erosion from a storm that wasn’t even a direct hit is an indication that more work needs to be done to mitigate against costly and potentially deadly rising seas.

“(It) goes to show how severe smaller scale events can be and I don’t think our municipalities are ready,” Rynne said.

While every region presents a unique challenge, researchers have identified steps governments can take right now to safeguard their shorelines, businesses and residents.

Those include stabilizing coastlines with living shorelines made of plants, sand and rock as well as updating building standards, overhauling aging storm water systems and fortifying critical infrastructure.

“Our power plants, our storm water plants and wastewater treatment plants are often in the most vulnerable locations,” Rynne said. “I think any time we have a storm like this, where it is very eye-opening to look at the damage, we need to hold our elected officials accountable saying, ‘Hey, we need to be putting in work, not just for the next 10 years but the next 20, 30, 100 years.’”

NOAA researchers predict sea levels will rise up to a foot over the next 30 years.

Rynne said cities and counties just aren’t focusing on this pressing issue enough.

“I think that is just sort of an unfortunate side effect of politics and election cycles,” he said. “Sea level rise and longer term problems aren’t really a subject politicians like to talk about, it doesn’t help them get re-elected. And that is an unfortunate thing because it is citizens like us that will see these events unfolding with more severity and we are going to be the ones that have to deal with it.”

The federal government has created a climate resilience toolkit with more information on fortifying coastal communities.


About the Author:

Christina returned to Local 10 in 2019 as a reporter after covering Hurricane Dorian for the station. She is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and previously earned an Emmy Award while at WPLG for her investigative consumer protection segment "Call Christina."