TX-Sized Stupid: Sea Level In Galveston Up 8" Since 2010; New Condos Planned For Barrier Island Beyond Sea Wall

[hatrack]

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Today, the island is booming. Galveston’s population has grown, home sale prices have more than doubled since 2011 and developers see more potential — even beyond the island’s 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 ocean’s 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 that’s 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 planet’s 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 wall’s 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 project’s architect, Steven Biegel, told Galveston officials the building’s footprint was placed “as far away from the beach as possible. We did this for a number of reasons, but mostly it’s 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.]

1. Hopefully...

...the condos will be very expensive so that a lot more magats lose a lot more money.

[Omnipresent]

2. They are stupid enough to buy there.

Trump has them convinced they will get more land as the sea level rises.

[PJMcK]

3. This is about tax revenues?!

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]

4. Galveston will lose its charm

and be just another tourist trap. it's heading there now and this won't help

[70sEraVet]

5. FEMA should 'draw a line in the sand'!

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]

6. Let them suffer, then.

We will all pay since Coastal Texas has socialized Insurance since nobody wants to insure here.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. My first reaction was 8 Inches!? That can't be right!

If you had a similar reaction…
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0670.1

Rapid Decadal Acceleration of Sea Level Rise along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts during 2010–22 and Its Impact on Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge
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”.

That’s simply astounding! I don’t see how efforts to stabilize the Mississippi delta could deal with that!

[hunter]

8. It would be a mercy if a storm took it out before it was occupied.

That way only the developers get hurt.

[Brenda]

9. Folly, borderline insanity

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, Bill Merrell, a professor at Texas A&M at Galveston, helped conceive of the idea of a massive coastal barrier. That effort eventually grew into what has become known as the Ike Dike — the sprawling combination of walls, enormous gates and dunes that the Army Corps is expected to take decades to construct.

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.

“The world has got itself in a fix. We didn’t mitigate” planet-warming emissions, Merrell said in an interview. “We are going to have to adapt to it. We don’t have a choice anymore. If we want to maintain our economy, our way of life, our social systems … we are going to have to defend the coast.”

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. Galveston Pier 21, Texas

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends_station.shtml?id=8771450