Florida governor: Irma’s storm surge ‘will cover your house,’
MIAMI — Life-threatening storm surge is expected for parts of Florida, especially if Hurricane Irma’s winds push seawater ashore at high tide.
“This will cover your house,” Gov. Rick Scott said Saturday. “It flows in fast, very fast. You will not survive all this storm surge.”
The National Hurricane Center forecast water levels up to 15 feet above ground for the Florida Keys island chain and parts of the state’s Gulf coast, along with up to 25 inches of rain in the Keys.
The flooding threat extended far beyond the path of Irma’s eye. The Atlantic coast from Miami to Isle of Palms, S.C., could see up to 6 feet of storm surge.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said it was Irma’s storm surge threat, not fierce winds, that triggered evacuation orders for 660,000 people in the Miami area.
WHAT IS
STORM SURGE?
It’s not a wall of water or a tsunami. Simply put, hurricane winds push water toward shore. It can happen quickly and far from a storm’s center, inundating areas that don’t typically flood.
Storm surge doesn’t just come from the ocean. It can come from sounds, bays and lakes, sometimes well inland.
The categories for hurricanes measure wind speeds, and don’t say anything about storm surge. The flooding risk will not drop just because Irma’s winds might weaken, said Jamie Rhome, head of the hurricane center’s storm surge unit.
Large hurricanes tend to create greater storm surge over a broader area, and coastal features such as bays can act like funnels and back water up into rivers and canals, Rhome said.
“This is going to sneak up on people,” Rhome said.
WHAT’S AT RISK?
About 1,000 miles of coastline from Tampa Bay to the mid-South Carolina coast could see storm surge. Much of that landscape lies less than 10 feet above sea level, and the surge from Irma could be a few inches higher in some areas.
Much of Florida’s southwest coast is uninhabited swampland, including a large section of Everglades National Park.
“The Everglades won’t stop the potential flooding to inhabited areas,” Rhome said.
North of the Everglades lies Naples, an upscale town of about 22,000 that is also the home of the Florida governor.
The hurricane center’s storm surge maps, showing deep inundation for Naples, worried Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
“Look at Naples, the entire town of Naples is underwater,” Klotzbach said. “That is horrible. God, that looks awful.”
Farther north is the Tampa Bay region, with about 3 million people, a Busch Gardens theme park and baseball spring training grounds for the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays.