The two words which came to mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian a week and one half ago. We can blame these Great American "values" for the massive human toll, which at this point ranks second ONLY to the 1935 Hurricane. That hurricane claimed 485 lives. The death toll from Ian is still being tabulated.
WE WANTED IT. WE TOOK IT!
In the news segment here, you'll hear from a scientist how the removal of natural dunes in the name of progress created the effects we saw of massive storm surge. These natural barriers between sea and civilization were bulldozed many decades ago.
The images, alone, provided by NASA are alarming...but more alarming are the harmful effects of unfettered capitalism, greed and growth that allowed the building of so many unsafe structures RIGHT ALONG the coastline...and this happens ALL OVER Florida!
The arrogance of planners and developers to think that we (mere mortals) can somehow stop the rising seas, we can resist the natural flow of water (see the Everglades) or in any other way FUCK WITH Mother Nature is pure insanity. Yet, we do it everyday. We restrict or impact in some way the flow of waterways, we introduce foreign objects, substances and species (plant and animal) and otherwise screw up the natural state of our planet, and expect the Universe to comply with OUR wishes. It just does not work that way. The Universe DOES NOT revolve around humankind!
The Army Corps of Engineers and the planners in Lee County believed they could manufacture islands to build a causeway that would withstand the terrific force of the Gulf of Mexico. Likewise, they filled in a swamp, then drained the neighborhoods they manufactured with endless canals and sold it to retirees as "Cape Coral." It was swampy marshland just inside Pine Island and should have been left to the manatee, the blue herron and the gator. But just like the concrete jungle in South Florida, we created a veritable paradise for mostly white people.
Why? Because we could...and developers profited greatly.
Time is about to show how much Mother Nature and the rising seas, due to a global crisis, care about humankind's plans--their avarice and hubris mean nothing to Her. Miami will one day be swallowed by the Atlantic, becoming my great-great descendants New Atlantis.
And as Hurricane Ian showed, we cannot sustain this type of growth along the barrier islands on the Gulf side, either. You can't resculpt islands, removing the barriers nature put in place, then put unsafe structures on the new landscape and expect Mother Nature to respect that. She won't. She doesn't.
And yet, in SWFL, just like in post-Andrew Miami, we'll see the tightening (in this case, enforcing, FINALLY) of building codes from the early 2000's. They'll ignore the lessons of history and rebuild on the exact same duneless beaches, just stronger, more fortified houses and condos. Hell, Fort Myers Beach was in the process of building the mega-structure Margaritaville when Ian struck!
But who will be able to afford to live in this new paradise? Only the mega-wealthy!
All that money and "sustainable" growth is still no match for the power of nature. Those islands WILL one day be claimed by the rising seas! Just as the above video shows us, nature already took a little of it back with her after Ian.
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