Jacksonville’s Risk of Flooding Increasing Due to Rising Sea Levels

Introduction

Jacksonville is seeing an increased risk of flooding due to increasing sea levels. A recent report suggests that numerous important infrastructure locations, including schools, hospitals, and police and fire stations, may be vulnerable to disruptive floods in the upcoming years.
The affected areas stretch inland and along the St. Johns River and seashore. The Union of Concerned Scientists claims that politicians must act quickly to prepare for the rapidly worsening effects of climate change on tidal floods.

Numerous vital infrastructure assets in the First Coast region will be at risk of flooding twice a year by 2050, according to a group analysis of sea level rise found in a paper titled “Looming Deadlines for Coastal Resilience.” This is in accordance with a medium sea level rise scenario.

These include the Pablo Hamlet inexpensive senior housing complex in Jacksonville Beach, the City Hall and Police Department of Atlantic Beach, and three locations that house chemicals close to JaxPort.

There is a Superfund site among them. The EPA claims that the region’s production of pesticides and fertilizers for more than 80 years damaged the groundwater and soil.
“We can be fairly definite about the amount of sea level increase in the years between now and 2050. According to Kristina Dahl, Principal Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, “We can see this coming, and we need to be planning for it.”

Dahl is the study’s principal author. Because it will depend on our emissions both now and in the upcoming decades, she warned that sea level rise in the second part of the century is less certain.

However, the study demonstrates that even with a comparatively modest rise in sea level, the danger of twice-yearly flooding will increase in new locations by the year 2100. Some of these locations are the JEA Northside generating station on Heckscher Drive, Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital, Jacksonville Beach Fire & Rescue, and Atlantic Beach Elementary.

Preparing for climate change

Jacksonville, being a coastal city, is already preparing for the effects of climate change.
Chief Resilience Officer Anne Coglianese of Jacksonville stated the city’s vulnerability assessment reflected the conclusions of the new research. Coglianese is investigating how environmental shocks and hazards could influence the city’s infrastructure and systems.

“The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists takes a more limited stance, focusing only on sea level rise. As far as we are aware, five different kinds of flooding might occur. Increased sea level leads to more frequent tidal floods. However, storm surges and periods of intense rainfall can also cause floods, according to Coglianese.

It’s more expansive in terms of geography. Thus, we had to assess more assets,” she remarked.

The good news, according to Coglianese, is that leaders have time to prepare. With the information at their disposal, they may plan to modify at-risk structures or choose to transfer infrastructure when it needs to be replaced.

“We want to make sure residents feel confident that the city is tracking these long-term changes and that we’re prepared to make decisions that are in our residents’ best interests and that provide continuity of the services they rely on,” she said. “It’s not something that residents need to worry about, you know, in the next year.”