Hollywood Beach hopes $48 million project will ease King Tides woes on roads
HOLLYWOOD - Sand brought in by high tides is being sucked out of storm drains on Hollywood Beach to make space to handle water from King Tides. The first round of the higher-than-normal tides this season hit Monday morning.
The hope is that this $48 million project will lessen the flooding, at least for now.
Jake Rivet, who grew up in Hollywood, expects the high tides and street flooding every fall. He's especially aware that the water on the street is saltwater.
"You just got to be smart, vigilant of what you're going through," Rivet said. "Understand it's probably salt water. Rinse it off your vehicles."
Robyn Woods knows how destructive King Tides can be. Her son's car was totaled.
"When it rained for a few days and Kings Tides came he was driving up one of these streets trying to get to higher ground. He went through the water. Blew a piston. It shot through the engine and totaled his car," she said.
In Hollywood, the Coastal Resiliency Project is kicking off this week. Some of the roads in the southern part of Hollywood beach will get raised.
And some storm drains are being added to handle more water. New pump stations are also going in to move the water out more quickly. City planners are seeing increased impacts from King Tides.
"In the last several years, we were noticing that these conditions are being exacerbated," Hollywood Project Manager Sarita Shamah said. "What we're doing here is we are improving our condition, but this is a situation that is going to get worse as the time goes by, the sea level is going to keep rising."
Grace Moore, who lives near the beach too, said stronger King Tides are happening more frequently.
"Year over year over year, it's gotten worse. In the last five years, in particular, I've noticed it a lot more," she said,
Brian McNoldy, a senior research assistant at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School, said what Moore noticed is happening.
"Certainly the trend is upward due to sea level rise. And so the the same areas that may be used to flood a little bit during King Tide season 15 years ago certainly flood more now," McNoldy said.
He said we can expect more of the same in the future.
"It's just going to continue the trend where the low-lying areas that tend to experience this are going to flood more often, and it'll be worse, and there's really not a great way around that," he said.
Here's when King Tides are expected:
- Sept. 16-23
- Oct. 14-22
- Oct. 30 - Nov. 3
- Nov. 12-19
- Dec. 13-15