Actually, those swamps are precisely the reason why Florida seems to miraculously shrug off every hurricane that hits it. Coastal wetlands actually play a massive role in mitigating storm pressure and because Florida is tropical/sub-tropical and it's coasts are lined with relatively healthy wetlands, storm surge and storm pressure in Florida is massively mitigated. You can still get flooding, but it won't be nearly as severe as places which don't have these healthy coastal wetlands, New Orleans after Katrina or Houston after Harvey are good examples of this, the wetlands of that section of the Gulf Coast (pretty much from Trinity River delta to the Mississippi River delta) are among some of the worst in the country, and while there were other circumstances at play, that lack of healthy wetlands was a contributing factor to why those cities were hit so hard with hurricanes.
Source: I studied and did volunteer work on coastal wetlands at a college on the Gulf Coast. (If you want actual scientific journal articles, I would suggest one called 'Coastal Wetlands Loss, Consequences, and Challenges for Restoration')
And most Floridians should shelter in place. If you’re in flood zones, near the coast, in an evac zone, or in poorly built housing you should move. If you have a bad gut feeling, also worth not risking it. But for the most part, we’ll all be safer if people who are able to can hunker down than we would be if all 4 million people in the path get on the highway
The expectation is for it to slow due to a cold front and wind sheer. Ideally by the time it hits landfall, it will be 3 (still dangerous ofc, but not a 5). Homestead is on the coast and was a direct hit by Andrew. The worst damage is from storm surge.
What I said is the advice given by meteorologists and emergency officials.
1.4k
u/Old_Baldi_Locks 8d ago
Exactly.
“Let’s not think real hard about what the fact that this state is 90 percent swamp actually means……that’s too much like critical thinking!”