Homeowners in the Florida Keys fear their paradise will be lost to rising seas
Nancy Kaplitz bought a house in the Florida Keys nearly two decades ago, planning to raise her children at the waterfront property and then sell it to fund her retirement. Now approaching her 60th birthday, the neurologist was preparing to cash in by putting the property on the market.
But her plans have been plunged into uncertainty, along with those of thousands of other property owners in the sun-soaked island chain.
The Florida Keys is threatened by rising sea levels and worsening floods that will leave roads submerged for several months of the year.
In an announcement that shocked residents, the local county has suggested it may not be able to shell out the cash needed to keep them dry.
The impact is likely to be plummeting property prices and isolation for many homes during the wet season. “I felt like my fate was sealed,” Ms Kaplitz said. “This [house] was going to be part of my retirement – you know, sell it and buy something smaller. How do you sell it now?”
In a world scrambling to face the problems posed by climate change, the threat to the Florida Keys reveals the hard choices that coastal authorities will have to make. Chris Bergh, from Nature Conservancy, who is based in the Keys, said the latest projection for south-east Florida showed a sea level rise of 10in to 17in by 2040.
“That’s remarkable because we’ve had about 10 inches in the last century, so another 10 in the next 20 years is going to make a big impact,” he said.
Officials in Monroe County ordered an in-depth study to see how its 311 miles of roads would be affected. It found that the cost of keeping just one three-mile stretch dry by 2045, protecting about 25 homes, would top $128million (£98million), rising to $180million by 2060. The county has balked at the cost.
For Rhonda Haag, the director of sustainability, there will be “difficult discussions” ahead. “As we have seen on Sugarloaf [Key], the numbers are far bigger than we ever anticipated,” she said. While authorities might cope with the costs for the next few years, in the longer term the picture was uncertain, she added.
Henry Silverman, a retired teacher, lives on the same street as Ms Kaplitz. He said the evidence of rising seas was clear, describing finding a sea level marker, dating from the Thirties, now covered by more than a foot of water.
“We will get water right up to the house at high tide,” he said. “Your big worry is property value, obviously, and health and safety.”
Mr Silverman, 65, and his wife Melissa, 49, said they were “still cleaning up” from Hurricane Irma, the category five storm that struck in 2017.
“Luckily the house is still here; seven houses on the street were gone,” he said. “A lot of people just gave up and said ‘I’m done, I’m out of here’.”
The Silvermans, who moved from New York to Sugarloaf 10 years ago, joke that not many people will sympathise, given the beauty of their surroundings. But they warn that the central issue is a global problem.
Others, like Jean Alexandre, 76, are more stoic. “It’s just the way it is. Once you know it’s coming, you just get ready for it,” he said. “I’m not running; I’m not going anywhere.”
No final decision has been taken on the roads, and officials are considering other measures, such as a boat service for those who wish to remain, or buying homeowners out. But even by the county’s own predictions, 36 per cent of the population could be displaced by 2060.
Ms Kaplitz is left considering her future. “This is my life, my kids grew up here,” she said. “It’s just scary to think ‘how much more I can take?’”