Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumTX-Sized Stupid: Sea Level In Galveston Up 8" Since 2010; New Condos Planned For Barrier Island Beyond Sea Wall
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Today, the island is booming. Galvestons population has grown, home sale prices have more than doubled since 2011 and developers see more potential even beyond the islands existing fortifications. The sea wall protects only about a third of the island. Where it ends, two luxury condominium projects have been proposed along one of the fastest-eroding stretches of beach. At the same time, here as across much of the South, the threat from the sea is intensifying. Since 2010, Galveston has experienced a burst of sea level rise, which has added a staggering 8 inches to the oceans height here, according to federal data analyzed by The Washington Post one of the most rapid changes across the Gulf of Mexico. The rise is being exacerbated by fast-sinking land, which is taking the island and all thats on it ever lower.
The collision between the rising ocean and Americans desire to live near it is playing out from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas. Coastal communities throughout the American South have grown to accommodate an influx of residents, even as the region grapples with some of the planets fastest-rising seas as well as the likelihood of stronger storms and more intense rains fueled by a warming atmosphere.
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Jeffrey Hill, a former member of the Galveston Planning Commission who opposed the Tiara development given erosion risks, argued that the allure of increased tax revenue is a key reason why the city has supported the condo development. Somebody has to sound the alarm, she said. And it is a very unpopular stance to take, but somebody has to do it. Representatives for Tiara and its developer could not be reached for comment. However, during one public hearing in 2021, a coastal land-use expert noted that a portion of the site does lie behind the sea walls protections. And that while that stretch of beach is subject to erosion, it also is in an area eligible for government-funded sand replenishments.
In addition, the projects architect, Steven Biegel, told Galveston officials the buildings footprint was placed as far away from the beach as possible. We did this for a number of reasons, but mostly its a restricted site. City leaders ultimately approved the project in 2021 and last year voted to extend the deadline for its developer to acquire various permits.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/galveston-sea-level-rise-condo-development/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f005
Think. Again.
(17,450 posts)...the condos will be very expensive so that a lot more magats lose a lot more money.
Omnipresent
(6,287 posts)Trump has them convinced they will get more land as the sea level rises.
PJMcK
(22,854 posts)Galveston officials should take a trip to Rodanthe, NC. Last week, two more homes were swept into the ocean while the over-wash closed parts of SR-12.
This construction will fail within 20 years. But Galveston will raise some tax money.
When the Gulf encroaches on the condos, who will pay to protect or demolish the buildings?
4catsmom
(219 posts)and be just another tourist trap. it's heading there now and this won't help
70sEraVet
(4,136 posts)Make it known that folks who move into developments that are built in areas extremely risky to flooding will not be receiving financial bailouts when disaster hits!
Either that, or give to FEMA the power to shut down those developments before they are built!
HagathaCrispy
(154 posts)We will all pay since Coastal Texas has socialized Insurance since nobody wants to insure here.
OKIsItJustMe
(20,621 posts)If you had a similar reaction
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0670.1
Jianjun Yin
Online Publication: 12 Jun 2023
Print Publication: 01 Jul 2023
Assuming 8 of rise from 2010-2022 (it was actually more than that) by 2024, ir would be more than 9.
Thats simply astounding! I dont see how efforts to stabilize the Mississippi delta could deal with that!
hunter
(38,870 posts)That way only the developers get hurt.
Brenda
(1,314 posts)The plan would not only protect Galveston. It would fortify the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel and the massive oil and gas infrastructure that lies behind it from a catastrophic storm surge.