Florida Keys, Monroe County, facing flood levels in a few years

If you live in Monroe County and are a happy Florida Keys resident, this news is for you. Officials are saying that due to climate change affecting rising sea levels, many of the roads in the Florida Keys may be completely submerged in just a few short years. 

Estimates say that by 2025, many roads will be completely engulfed under ‘king tides’, rising tides that are elevating in altitude due to the melting antarctic ice caps. That means flooding over roads that will be permanent. This will have huge repercussions for district zoning, housing laws, and property values. Not to mention, you won’t be able to drive to your front door anymore. You may need to invest in a jetski. 

All kidding aside, this is a serious problem that officials are now discussing how best to solve. It’s estimated that $750 million will be needed to save the roads that are in immediate harm, estimated to be submerged by 2025. A full submerging of 155 miles of Monroe County roads could happen by 2045, which will cost around $1.8 billion to prevent. 

Those are big numbers. Saving these roads and highways is not an easy feat. Workers will have to re-install plumbing and build new levels of road, raising the height by several feet, in order to prevent a full submergence. The full construction costs will probably be higher and estimated times vary from several years to more. 

One fact that we cannot get away from is that sea levels are indeed rising, they have been rising for the last several decades, with some countries like the Marshall Islands in the north Pacific losing several feet a year to sea level rise. In fact their entire nation-state is in danger of disappearing in just a few decades if things don’t improve. 

Florida Keys are unfortunately in the same boat. With the acceleration of climate change and the Key’s low sea-level altitude, the area is prime suspect for being an endangered zone to climate change. 

We can’t give out any legal advice on what to do, but when it comes to flooding, we are experts. If your home is facing flood damage already, use our professional services in order to get the maximum coverage possible from your insurance carrier. Some of our clients benefit greatly from working with us since we build a case on your behalf and submit it to your carrier. Usually these types of damages are covered, but not all insurance policies cover it, we recommend checking with your insurance carrier for more info. 

Despite the sad news of the keys possibly disappearing, we think there’s still hope. More people than ever before are waking up to the real consequences of the global climate changing. Many scientists have been speaking on this for years, and politicians and global leaders regularly come together to discuss this issue in their global summits like COP26. 

We think if this trend continues, it’s possible that Congress will allocate more funding for federal projects that prevent counties from losing livable land, like Monroe County. As the pandemic of 2020 showed, when there is a real emergency threatening lives and livelihoods, federal budgets stretch wide to help citizens. When the consequences of climate change finally hit home, it’s possible that the $1.8 billion needed to save Monroe County will be delivered. We can only hope.