Do Coastal Levees have a place in Florida's hurricane damage mitigation system?
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
In Person or Zoom Presentation
In-Person
Campus
Daytona Beach
Status
Student
Presentation Description/Abstract
As climate change drives ocean temperatures higher, storm intensity is expected to increase and will continue to flood low-lying areas in the state of Florida. This study focuses on comparing the levee system used in New Orleans with the feasibility of implementing large coastal levees along Florida’s Gulf Coast. New Orleans benefits from high population density and a geographic layout that makes it easy to build levees to protect high-risk areas. In contrast, coastal Florida has continuous and widespread coastal development, which presents significant economic and engineering challenges.
While various mitigation measures exist, Florida’s Gulf Coast primarily relies on early warning systems and evacuation procedures to protect human life. However, there are limited strategies in place to mitigate physical damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure. This study reviews established coastal mitigation methods and evaluated their potential application to coastal Florida to reduce economic and structural losses. The study will compare the geographic and topographic characteristics of New Orleans and Florida to determine if levees that are large enough to resist 10-12ft storm surge are feasible. The study will use the information from the New Orleans 14.4-billion-dollar levee project from 2022 to estimate the economic cost.
Nevertheless, as hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast continue to increase frequency and intensity, the use of levees to protect high-risk communities in coastal Florida will need to be reevaluated. This study aims to determine whether levees can provide viable long–term protection for Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Keywords
Hurricane Damage Mitigation, Coastal Infrastructure, Early Warning Systems, Economic Feasibility, Climate Change, Disaster preparedness
Do Coastal Levees have a place in Florida's hurricane damage mitigation system?
As climate change drives ocean temperatures higher, storm intensity is expected to increase and will continue to flood low-lying areas in the state of Florida. This study focuses on comparing the levee system used in New Orleans with the feasibility of implementing large coastal levees along Florida’s Gulf Coast. New Orleans benefits from high population density and a geographic layout that makes it easy to build levees to protect high-risk areas. In contrast, coastal Florida has continuous and widespread coastal development, which presents significant economic and engineering challenges.
While various mitigation measures exist, Florida’s Gulf Coast primarily relies on early warning systems and evacuation procedures to protect human life. However, there are limited strategies in place to mitigate physical damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure. This study reviews established coastal mitigation methods and evaluated their potential application to coastal Florida to reduce economic and structural losses. The study will compare the geographic and topographic characteristics of New Orleans and Florida to determine if levees that are large enough to resist 10-12ft storm surge are feasible. The study will use the information from the New Orleans 14.4-billion-dollar levee project from 2022 to estimate the economic cost.
Nevertheless, as hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast continue to increase frequency and intensity, the use of levees to protect high-risk communities in coastal Florida will need to be reevaluated. This study aims to determine whether levees can provide viable long–term protection for Florida’s Gulf Coast.