For
years Florida's economy has flourished from its range of industries
that include tourism, ports, business services, health care and most
importantly the people, nearly adding 1,000 individuals to the population
every day. However, once Hurricane Irma hit, the realization from
individuals that global warming is a real issue that quite possibly can
continue and become worse, will ultimately hurt the economy. From the
rising sea levels, more individuals will have to move inland, driving the price
of living way up and the time waiting in traffic much longer. Nonetheless,
there is also a belief that the low taxes and easier living will continue to
drive people from all over to live in the sunshine state. Although the costs of
fixing the damages will be over 50 billion, the overall impact
the hurricane had on the people and their homes may hurt Florida's economy
in the long run.
I
think the hurricane was a warning bell to Florida for what can come next
if nothing is done. I believe it is important for those living on the coast to
move inland because of global warming and the melting glaciers. Although the
state of Florida is relieved the cost of repairing the state is less than
anticipated, many individuals lost their homes that were filled with memories
and loved ones, which is something that can't be replaced. Florida will
continue to remain a popular destination for vacationers but as for the
protection of the people, there needs to be a significant change.
Article
link:
http://www.wacotrib.com/townnews/economics/irma-s-damage-a-reminder-of-florida-economy-s-vulnerability/article_8afc6d04-b02c-5d2d-bfb7-56cc0879ef6a.html
6 comments:
Hurricane Irma did leave a huge impact on Florida's economy. Because it's economy is largely based on tourism and oranges (and retirement homes), the extreme floods that the hurricane(s) are causing changes the safety of the state. One of my friends in Tampa had to evacuate the university of Tampa for the day, and board up all the dorms so that they would not get flooded. As the rate of which global warming is increasingly impacting the environment, not only Floridians, but also people in the Caribbean Islands need to be wary and take precaution regarding the flooding and tropical storms.
Not taking away anything from the devastation of Irma, but the hurricane provides a great opportunity for Florida lawmakers and cities to improve and revamp their economies and infrastructures so that natural disasters will have less of an impact on them in the future. This is especially important since like you said, climate change and global warming has shown to be making natural disasters worse and worse. Florida needs to take this time to rebuild a stronger and more efficient economy that can withstand these dangers.
While Hurricane Irma caused immense damage to those along the coast, I do not believe the immediate answer would be to move everyone away from the coast. Being the panhandle, there is bound to be a huge business out of seafood and anything related to the ocean. People make a living along the coast, and moving them away from doing what they know best would cause more damage. I do recognize the dangers of hurricanes and I do want people to be in the safest position possible; however, it is highly unlikely to move people away from the coast. I do agree this is a huge wake-up call for Florida to improve and think about their economy's future.
I agree with Sarena's comment. While Hurricane Irma was devastating to Florida in terms of its economy and infrastructure, I don't think that Florida's citizens' immediate reactions should be to pick up everything and move inland. I think that this is not a very practical idea either, as I would imagine most citizens wouldn't want to move to another state and move away from their home on the beaches and the coastline. Although, moving inland in preparation for the next flood or environmental disaster may be a smart move economically and for safety reasons, we should definitely leave that up to the citizens of Florida to decide on for themselves if staying or moving inland is worth it. In the mean time, I think that the state of Florida or any other place that has been hit with an environmental disasters recently such as Puerto Rico should focus more on rebuilding a stronger, and more protective infrastructure in preparation for future devastations.
Like Julia and Sarena, I agree that the best option is not to move everyone inland. Having a large flood of people pouring inland would cause cost of living there to skyrocket, due to not being able to meet the demand for housing. I believe the best option would be to have better preparations along the coast in case such an incident occurs again. Having to build up protection from such strong natural forces will definitely be expensive, but will also create jobs, even if it is only temporary. Having these defenses would be much better than having to rebuild.
The lack of highly industrialized, populated port cities would cripple Florida's economy far beyond what any hurricane would do. Florida ports, as estimated by the Brooking's Institute, bring in approximately 123.7 billion dollars annually. To suggest mass migration inland, or even mandate such a think has immense externalities on the US economy as a whole beyond just the obvious loss of jobs for Floridans.
Maintaining Florida's coastal cities and not fleeing inland, while arguably a bit unsympathetic to the value of lives lost, ultimately comes down to a cost-benefit analysis. There is inherent risk in living almost anywhere, and coastal cities are at a higher risk of hurricane and flooding natural disasters while the trade of is large port money for imports and tourism. In my estimation, the benefit outweighs the risk.
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