From the front lines of climate impact

IEF member Carol Curtis on Majuro in the Marshall Islands reports that she experienced flooding from ocean water two weeks ago, supposedly caused by a big swell, not extreme high tides, but of course the swell and the wind caused some very high tides. Her house is about 3 meters from the ocean side of the atoll. This is the first time that water washed over part of the land in the five years she has lived there. There was a little flooding during September and October with the high tides, but this time is was much more. Her landlord five years ago built a berm of sand, rocks, and garbage by the ocean to raise the land a meter higher than the regular land area, but much of this has washed away over the last 3 months, with a meter of land lost to the sea. Several houses were damaged and about 200 people had to be evacuated and are now living in some of the schools. This is minor compared to the big climate events in the world, but of course it foretells the future very clearly. At some point the islands will have to be evacuated. Here is a photo of where the water came to and the rocks and debris it left behind.

The water really washed over other parts of the atoll, like at the airport, and in many places in heavily populated areas. She sent a link to a 5 December 2019 newspaper report on the flooding of the atoll: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/12/05/breaking-news/huge-waves-and-…