Question for the FL, GA and Carolina coast retirees

[Leo1277]

True. Sounds like I’m over a barrel on insurance regardless of which coast I choose. I get to pay for quakes in CA or floods in FL.

Except the location of the quakes is pretty unpredictable with similar danger over large areas, but the location of the floods usually follows clear patterns, and the danger can be greatly minimized by staying out of the well-known flood zones.

 

[Al in Ohio]

And depending on how much higher your home is than sea level with climate change and sea levels rising in some coastal areas, 10-20 years from now some communities will be under water.

 

[Music Lover]

And depending on how much higher your home is than sea level with climate change and sea levels rising in some coastal areas, 10-20 years from now some communities will be under water.

Where did you get that from? NASA says the sea is rising .13 inches a year. In 20 years that's only 2.6 inches. Buy just a foot above sea level and you're good for a full century. There's no need to panic.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

I have been giving serious thought to the coastal areas of the southeast because they offer two things that are very important to me: beaches and lots of tennis options. But I keep going back to hurricanes, terrible storms, and flooding. I am petrified of lightning, but I could install a lightning protection system for peace of mind. I can’t control hurricanes. And so much of the land in these areas is prone to flooding.

How worried are you about hurricanes where you live? Are hurricanes and/or flooding something you took into consideration before moving there? I’m trying to convince myself that hurricane risk isn’t all that bad but the articles I have read indicate otherwise.

You haven't seen lightning until you go through a Florida storm. The thunder is quite loud as compared to other places too, not sure why. Keep in mind if you want a beach you will have coastal storms. All coastlines have storms with 80-100 MPH winds sooner or later. [A Cat 5 hurricane is a killer of course.]


And golfers know you can be hit by lightning from clouds 30 miles away in Florida--more than one golfer has warned me about this, so I am assuming there is some truth to it.


If this is truly a show stopper for you maybe lakeside living would be a better fit?

 

[Dtail]

You haven't seen lightning until you go through a Florida storm. The thunder is quite loud as compared to other places too, not sure why. Keep in mind if you want a beach you will have coastal storms. All coastlines have storms with 80-100 MPH winds sooner or later. [A Cat 5 hurricane is a killer of course.]


And golfers know you can be hit by lightning from clouds 30 miles away in Florida--more than one golfer has warned me about this, so I am assuming there is some truth to it.


If this is truly a show stopper for you maybe lakeside living would be a better fit?

Agree the thunder is the loudest sound of thunder I have ever heard in FLA.

 

[Al in Ohio]

Where did you get that from? NASA says the sea is rising .13 inches a year. In 20 years that's only 2.6 inches. Buy just a foot above sea level and you're good for a full century. There's no need to panic.

Oh heck no! Oceans will rise between 2 and 7 feet by 2050 in coastal areas. Here’s one article, but I could have posted 5 all saying the same thing. It’s slso based on NASA data.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdob...stroy-coastal-cities-by-2050/?sh=2e85779b456c

 

[Leo1277]

Oh heck no! Oceans will rise between 2 and 7 feet by 2050 in coastal areas. Here’s one article, but I could have posted 5 all saying the same thing. It’s slso based on NASA data.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdob...stroy-coastal-cities-by-2050/?sh=2e85779b456c

That's not true. While sea level rise is a well established effect, and surely is a reason for great concern, it is much less than what is quoted there. For example, at https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-sea-level one can see the following:

The global mean water level in the ocean rose by 0.14 inches (3.6 millimeters) per year from 2006–2015, which was 2.5 times the average rate of 0.06 inches (1.4 millimeters) per year throughout most of the twentieth century. By the end of the century, global mean sea level is likely to rise at least one foot (0.3 meters) above 2000 levels, even if greenhouse gas emissions follow a relatively low pathway in coming decades.

What surprises me is how something like that can make it into Forbes.

 

[Leo1277]

Here is a picture from Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise . Again, it's bad enough for sure, but it's important to be as precise as we can in stating what is understood to be happening.

 

[Leo1277]

I read the above-quoted Forbes report https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdob...stroy-coastal-cities-by-2050/?sh=32609378456c more in detail. Its title is

Shocking New Maps Show How Sea Level Rise Will Destroy Coastal Cities By 2050

but deep in the text it says

Over the course of the twenty-first century, global sea levels are projected to rise between about 2 and 7 feet, and possibly more.

It's not clear whether it's intentional or not, but the title gives the impression we are talking about 2050, while in the text, the numbers quoted are for 2100. And those numbers are roughly in agreement with Wikipedia and the US government I quoted earlier. But while 30 years down the road may matter for us, 80 years down the road may not.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks for an interesting discussion