Still, damaging waters need not be a the result of a named storm or involve storm surge to destroy property, or spur flood warnings miles from the ocean. Florida’s flat, low-lying landscape, its limestone geology and its development patterns combine to present an ongoing and sometimes unpredictable threat from the wet stuff that experts fear will become more apparent with increasing temperatures and moisture.
“Virtually the entire state of Florida is a coastal plain,” said Tom Missimer, a hydrogeology professor emeritus at Florida Gulf Coast University’s College of Engineering in Fort Myers, who has been studying water movement for more than half a century. “When we get a large rainfall event, there’s not a lot of storage in the ground to absorb the new water coming in.”
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