Explore four ways climate change may affect Florida in 2025
South Florida Explore four ways climate change may affect Florida in 2025
Florida faces growing challenges from climate change.
Rising sea levels are speeding up, with Miami expected to see about two feet of sea level rise by 2060 and as many as 23,000 people at risk for coastal flooding by 2050. Extreme weather like hurricanes and torrential rain is already damaging homes and raising costs for farmers, which means higher restaurant prices and food shortages.
Programs like Miami Beach's "Fight the Flood Property Adaptation" are helping residents install flood barriers or raise their homes, but there are barriers like high property costs and delays. Cities are also using updated flood predictions to plan for new developments, knowing that building resilience and reducing emissions will be key steps moving forward.
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
Chefs Val and Nando Chang at the counter of the original Itamae at the former St. Roch Market (now MIA Market), where they opened in 2018. Val Chang hosted the James Beard Foundation at her restaurant, Maty's, on Jan. 22 to discuss how climate change is disrupting the restaurant and farming industries. By MATIAS J. OCNER
NO. 1: RISING PRICES ON SOUTH FLORIDA MENUS? RISING COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTE
'Climate change has a direct impact on the supply chain that your favorite chefs depend on.' | Published January 24, 2025 | Read Full Story by Ashley Miznazi
No children were playing on the dinosaur or pony ride at the Little River Pocket Mini Park Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 9, 2021, after the park was flooded with King Tide waters. This type of flooding could be much more common in the future as sea levels rise. By Emily Michot
NO. 2: WE ANSWER YOUR CLIMATE QUESTIONS: HOW MUCH SEA LEVEL RISE IS MIAMI EXPECTING?
Exactly how high will the tide rise? Scientists have a prediction. | Published April 1, 2025 | Read Full Story by Alex Harris
A resident walks with her belongings through the flooded N 15th St in North Tampa, on Thursday, October 10, 2024, a day after Hurricane Milton crossed Florida's Gulf Coast. By Pedro Portal
NO. 3: FLORIDA MOST AT RISK OF 'SEVERE COASTAL FLOODING.' NEW RESEARCH SHOWS WHERE
'This is a level of exposure that's going to require a massive amount of planning and investment in coastal resilience.' | Published April 2, 2025 | Read Full Story by Denise Hruby
Victor Corone, 66, pushes his wife Maria Diaz, 64, in a wheelchair through more than a foot of flood water on 84th street in Miami Beach on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Diaz had a doctor's appointment, and they had to ditch the car in the parking lot on Collins Ave and walk more than 20 minutes to get home. By Photograph by Al Diaz
NO. 4: HOW TO GET MONEY TO PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM FLOODING IN MIAMI BEACH
'We want to do incremental adaptation, you know, things that we can build upon over time, and things that are going to stand the test of time' | Published April 4, 2025 | Read Full Story by Ashley Miznazi
This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.
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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
2025 hurricane season could see degraded forecasts because of weather service cuts
South Florida plunges deeper into the 2025 hurricane season with its National Weather Service office in Miami down five meteorologists, a deficit that gives it the highest vacancy rate among Florida's five weather forecasting offices. According to the National Weather Service Employees Organization, Key West has four meteorologist positions that are unfilled. Tallahassee is down three. Melbourne and Tampa have two empty seats each. The shortages have some experts worried that public services and forecasts may suffer this hurricane season, which is expected to again have above-normal activity. 'They won't have as much time to monitor what is going on at the local level, especially with short-fused warnings,' said James Franklin, former branch chief of the Hurricane Specialist Unit at the National Hurricane Center about the local forecast offices. 'When they are short-staffed, two people have to do the job of three.' While the National Hurricane Center forecasts the big picture for tropical cyclones — path, strength and size — the weather forecasting offices focus on the details for local communities. And those details are critical, such as when Hurricane Milton shredded the state with 45 tornadoes in October, leaving six people dead in the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village mobile-home community in Fort Pierce. The Miami NWS office forecasts for seven counties, including Palm Beach County. The meteorologists in weather forecasting offices are also responsible for working directly with county officials, translating the forecasts into the impacts and hazards that could be felt by individual communities. Sometimes they embed in emergency operations centers to better help local officials decide when and who to evacuate as a storm approaches. 2025 hurricane season : New forecast calls for above normal season but questions remain 'It's not so much that the National Hurricane Center won't be able to get a forecast out, they will, but the local services will be degraded,' Franklin said. It's unclear yet how many of the vacancies at the nation's 122 local forecast offices are a direct result of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency budget cuts. Tom Fahy, legislative director of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, said his office is working now to parse out that information from the 600 positions that were lost across the country this year. About half of those were voluntary early retirements, while 108 were fired probationary employees. The remainder were voluntary deferred resignations, Fahy said. The NWS has since announced it wants to hire 126 people, and it's asking for current employees to transfer to offices in need of critical positions including meteorologists, science and operations officers and warning-coordination meteorologists. Miami and Key West are on that list as offices in need. 'The National Weather Service is doing their very level best to fill the critical vacancies ASAP, but when that will happen is to be determined,' Fahy said. 'We have hurricane season, but in California wildfire season has started, so we have two different weather disasters.' Ken Graham, director of the NWS, said in May that local offices will get additional resources where needed during emergencies. 'Every warning is going to go out,' Graham said. Although Graham, and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, have said that the National Hurricane Center is fully staffed, Fahy said there are five openings at the Miami-based hurricane center. Those include a hurricane specialist, who forecasts the track, intensity and size of storms, a marine forecaster, and positions that maintain and update operational software. More: Hurricane hunters save lives, but NOAA plane breakdowns, staffing shortages put them at risk Franklin said it's typical for there to be a small number of vacancies at any given time at the NHC, and that while it is not fully staffed, 'they are reasonably well staffed.' 'I don't think that is true with the weather forecast offices,' Franklin said. Fahy said Miami's NWS office has a 38% vacancy rate among its meteorologists. Key West was second highest at 30%. There are six offices nationwide — none in Florida — that have shuttered their typical 24-hour operations between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., Fahy said. Others have reduced their twice-daily weather balloon launches, which are important for measuring temperature, humidity and pressure in the atmosphere, as well as tracking wind speed and direction. The Washington Post previously reported that since March 20, 17% of balloon launches nationwide that should have occurred didn't because of staffing losses. A weather balloon that fails to launch in the Great Plains may not seem like it could hinder hurricane forecasts, but the lack of information on upper air movements — steering winds — can leave blind spots. 'I think it's safe to say that because of the reduction in weather balloon launches, that some forecasts this summer for hurricanes will be degraded,' Franklin said. 'The problem is it will be difficult to predict when those degradations might occur, how large they might be, and even after the fact, we might not now whether a particular forecast is bad because some launches didn't happen.' Jeff Masters, a meteorologist who writes for Yale Climate Connections, said he believes the loss of balloon data could mean the hurricane forecast cone will be too small this season, 'giving people overconfidence in the accuracy of the hurricane forecasts.' 'Such overconfidence can result in delayed evacuation decisions and failure to take adequate measures to protect lives and property,' Masters said. Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@ Help support our local journalism, subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hurricane Season 2025 forecasts could be hurt by Trump budget cuts
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lake Bonny residents brace for new hurricane season after Milton's devastating flooding
The Brief The flood water remained in neighborhoods for nearly a month, destroying homes and lives. Earlier this year, residents created a petition calling for an independent investigation into flooding after Milton. A watershed study is being done to identify possible flooding sources and potential flood relief options. LAKELAND, Fla. - Lake Bonny residents are gearing up for another hurricane season, nearly nine months after Hurricane Milton caused devastating flooding. What they're saying Nicki Aldahonda-Ramirez has made progress rebuilding her home on Honey Tree Lane, but it's still under mid-construction. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube "It is nice to have an actual bathroom that's completed," she said. "All of the walls are new. The floors are new." In the middle of the night during Milton, she, her roommate and their dogs had to escape out the front window after water from Lake Bonny, five feet high, rushed inside. "I have night terrors now that the water's coming in," said Aldahonda-Ramirez. "I scream at night when I'm asleep." The backstory The flooding lasted for weeks until state officials and the Army Corps of Engineers brought in industrial pumps to help move water into Lake Parker. Earlier this year, frustrated residents created a petition calling for an independent investigation into the flooding and how the city, Polk County, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFTMD) plan to prevent it from happening again. Homeowners also demanded disclosure of drainage system maintenance records, and long-term mitigation efforts, including the formation of a citizen oversight committee. "We're asking for [the city] to have a more open line of communication, not just with us, but with Polk County and SWFTMD, because everybody has to work collaboratively for this to work," said Aldahonda-Ramirez. Additionally, neighbors are asking the city for a dedicated phone number for them to report when water levels get too high and for city officials to communicate when flooding is expected. The other side In regard to their concerns, city spokesperson, Kevin Cook, declined FOX 13's request for an interview. Big picture view A positive of this nightmare, Aldahonda-Ramirez says, is that her neighbors have become stronger than the storm. "The neighborhood came together. Who has this or that? I have toilets and electricity. We went from not knowing each other just by going past and waving to actually coming together as one," she said. What's next A watershed study is being done to identify possible flooding sources and potential flood relief options. Cook said it's now expected to be completed by August. The Source The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Carla Bayron. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app:Apple |Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Months-old footage shows flooding in Florida, not Thailand after heavy rain
"Flooding around (Victory Monument) in Thailand at 3:15pm today. Myanmar citizens beware," reads the Burmese-language caption of a Facebook video shared on May 27, 2025. Superimposed Burmese-language text on the video -- which shows partially submerged houses and buildings in an area inundated with water -- reads, "Flooding in Thailand. Those who are close to the sea, please be careful". The video circulated online days after Thai media reported that a combination of heavy rain and slow water drainage had flooded parts of Bangkok (archived here and here). The footage was also shared in similar Burmese posts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. But the clip is old and was not filmed in Bangkok. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to an identical clip published on Instagram on October 9, 2024 (archived link). Its caption reads: "Fort Myers Beach, halfway down Estero island @ 5:30pm on Oct 9. Milton was about double the flooding from Helene for FMB." Category 3 storm Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast on October 9, 2024, pounding communities still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier. At least 16 people died as Milton sent tornadoes spinning across Florida and left millions of buildings without power (archived link). The video matches Google Street View imagery of Fort Myers Beach (archived link). AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to flooding in Thailand here.
