The streets of Miami are flooded this week, as South Florida kicked off summer with a deluge that lasted several days. ready to fall up to 10 inches of rain through Friday.
As the rain falls and Floridians enjoy a hurricane tax exemptioncounty officials and Army Corps of Engineers put the finishing touches on a $2.7 billion plan to protect Miami from storm surges. The plan has been hotly debated for half a decade, but officials intend to take it to Congress for approval and funding this year.
The storm surge protection plan would introduce a pilot program to test natural solutions to reduce flooding.
“Our goal is to take some of these blunt measures, things that are accepted by the community, things that we can move forward for faster implementation,” said Abbegail Preddy, Army Corps project manager who is leading the study. “At the same time, we want to start moving forward into more complex, long-term analysis of other solutions.”
The plan is built around three pillars: multiple lines of defense, adaptive management and integration. Its impacts would be largely limited to seven priority areas chosen for their flood risk as well as environmental justice factors prioritizing disadvantaged communities.
Concretely, the army corps proposes to raise approximately 2,100 houses and renovate approximately 400 commercial buildings to protect them from flooding. The structures are found in parts of the northern and southern sections of Miami BeachLittle River neighborhood of Miami, buildings along the Miami River west of Brickell and the city center, Miami North and Cutler Bay.
The plan would also provide flood mitigation at 27 additional properties identified as critical infrastructure, including sites outside priority areas.
The Army Corps recommends spending $200 million on nonstructural solutions in commercial buildings or investments aimed at preventing flood damage rather than preventing flooding altogether. It recommends that $170 million be used to protect multifamily properties from flooding, while using $30 million to identify solutions for hospitals.
The plan also calls for the creation of a $180 million pilot program exploring natural solutions to storm surges, which favor a tiered approach using natural barriers, as opposed to walls that prevent flooding.
The nature-based approach involves tactics like planting mangrove forests, building reefs and expanding wetlands to naturally divert water. It’s an approach the Army Corps acknowledges it doesn’t have much experience with and whose results are difficult to measure, but it comes after a 20-foot sea wall. proposed in a previous report encounter with disdain from residents and local elected officials.
The $2.7 billion package includes $1.5 billion for construction, $214 million for engineering and design, $205 million for construction management and $165 million for construction. acquisition of real estate.
The Army Corps recommends that all commercial structures be “flood-proofed,” making their exteriors waterproof so that floodwaters cannot infiltrate them.
“This can be achieved by using waterproof coatings, waterproof membranes, sealants and shields/gates applied to doors and windows,” the report states. “A sump pump can also be installed to help keep the area dry and prevent flooding. »
Miami could see a $1.2 billion reduction in storm surge damage over 50 years thanks to the program, which estimates that affected properties would experience $1.7 billion in damage without intervention and $518 million in damage. storm-related impacts if improvements are made.
A graphic in the 222-page report outlines a tiered approach to flood protection.
Corps officials acknowledge that this latest version, which was completed in an accelerated manner after the rejection of the previous report, is reduced, with the report leaving issues related to flood walls, levees and storm barriers for a follow-up report.
The final version is in the hands of Army Corps leaders, who will need to approve it before the plan and its funding can be incorporated into federal law. The Army Corps estimates the federal government would fund 65 percent of the program, or $1.4 billion, with the remaining $1.3 billion coming from the county and other sources.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava expressed support for the amended plan, but acknowledged in a May 23 letter that its recommendations are far from enough to protect Miami from flooding.
“This interim report is the first step in addressing coastal storm risk in the county,” Levine Cava wrote to the corps district commander who is overseeing the report. “However, much of the county remains at risk. There is a need to actively pursue future phases and future studies to address storm surge risk for the county as a whole.
The plan is also at least two years away from implementation. Efforts have been made to have the expedited report completed in time for Congress to vote on it this year, but a seal of approval will only clear the way for seeking federal funding under a budget, a result which is not guaranteed.
“The earliest possible time to begin the pre-construction, engineering and design phase is actually 2026,” Preddy said.
The report estimates that construction would finish in 2034.
The Army Corps’ plan fits well with several other government and university initiatives and studies, said Aaron DeMayo, chair of the City of Miami’s Climate Resilience Committee. Together, these programs will help Miami be more resilient to flooding, rather than preventing it altogether.
DeMayo believes a bolder solution will ultimately be necessary. The founder of Future Vision Studios, a design and architecture firm, made a plan for sea walls and natural levees that he said would protect large swathes of the city.
Until Miami is ready to adopt this solution, DeMayo sees the Army Corps’ plan as a step in the right direction.
“This creates a smaller portion that allows us to start putting shovels in the ground while additional reports come out,” he said. “It’s a good ‘don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress’ kind of approach.”
