Hurricane Irma has already killed nine in the Caribbean and is headed straight for Florida. On Thursday, the catastrophic storm hammered parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti; virtually wiped out the island of Barbuda, and left 1 million customers in Puerto Rico without power. With Florida, in its direct path, the Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 180 mph is guaranteed to cause severe destruction to an already weakened infrastructure in the state of Florida.
“Catastrophe looms over Miami and it’s not just Hurricane Irma,” Glenn said on radio Thursday.
Flooding in Miami would add to a serious problem that already exists in the housing market and its ripple effects will be felt all around the nation, Glenn asserted.
“Before the storm arrives, Miami already had the third worst real estate market among major American cities. Only Cleveland and Detroit rank lower than Miami in foreclosure rates and delinquent mortgages. Last year, Miami had over 7,000 home foreclosures. Seven thousand home foreclosures. This year the number is already over 3,600. Now, Irma is bearing down on south Florida … But the combination of a devastating hurricane hitting a real estate market that is already in shambles could be catastrophic for the entire country — especially if there is any kind of flooding like we have seen in Houston.”
According to Miami New Times, “Miami Beach has the second most properties threatened by rising seas in the world, so the city recently sank $500 million into a Sisyphean project to install up to 80 anti-flood pumps across the city.” Something engineers say is bound to fail anyway.
“Though the system has helped suck away sunny-day tidal flooding, independent engineers have warned that the pumps likely won’t save the city during a major flood event.”
