The peninsula that is the State of Florida is like a limestone sponge floating in an ocean of saltwater. Within the sponge is captured the freshwater that supports all life in South Florida. Full of freshwater, this piece of cotton does not absorb the liquid in which it is laid.

After ringing out the piece of cotton and placing it back in the liquid, the cotton absorbs the liquid. Like the cotton, if Florida is too wet and it rains, flooding results. If the Florida sponge is too dry, the saltwater can be absorbed to poison the freshwater supply.

It is an incredibly delicate balance between lowering the freshwater levels in South Florida to limit flooding problems and lowering it too far which would result in saltwater intrusion.

The only true solution is to completely stop any new building in South Florida. The only immediate thing you can do to protect yourself is to get Flood Insurance NOW.

To see an article on Flood Insurance, please click www.miami-dade-online.com/Flood-Insurance.htm

The upper surface of South Florida is covered by limestone, medium to fine sand and silt, sandy clay and clay and/or peat, and shelly sand and clay. Below the surface, Florida Terrain can be divided into 3 types of areas. All three begin with limestone.Within the limestone is trapped various areas of freshwater.

Area 1 has limestone near the surface where so much water has been taken out in some places, that the limestone has collapsed in what is called a "sinkhole". Some of these sinkholes are large enough to swallow large houses and the yard they stood on.

In both Area 2 and 3 the limestone is covered over by moderate to thick surface material. The difference is that area 3 has a water table lying near or at ground surfaces. Area 2's water table lies below the top of rock basins. As the map shows, all of South Florida is limestone with a water source near or at the surface. There is little room for rain water.

The vast canal system that has been built, is used to control surface flooding. To further control flooding, the Aquifer Reservoir can be pumped out - slightly wringing out the sponge, as it were. With a surface having little adsorbent qualities, the Aquifer could absorb a portion of rainwater and help with limiting flooding. The problem is not to take out too much from the Aquifer which could result in saltwater from the surrounding oceans leaching through the limestone to poison the saltwater Aquifer Reservoir.

This canal-Aquifer system was designed to take care of a population half of what it is today. When the population was much smaller, the Aquifer Reservoir could be kept lower. The Florida sponge could be kept drier because the amount of freshwater being taken out of the Aquifer Reservoir in a 24 hour period is nowhere near what it is today.

Where we are left is in a critical balance between disastrous floods and a catastrophic saltwater intrusion into the South Florida Aquifer Reservoir. As the population increases and the builders make a profit, the South Florida community is paying an incredible price.

My fist flood put 7 inches inside the house. That was in 1989. My sixth flood was on October 3, 2000 and the Insurance Agent estimated the depth was 36 inches.

The true solution to this problem is to find politicians who will act for the benefit of all South Florida citizens and stand up to those who would build and build and build until the catastrophe is a reality. I am not a politician. I am simply an observer of life who has physically been involved in the ecological changes to South Florida brought on by over population. I, after all, have just gone through my sixth flood and this time the flood waters rose up to over 3 feet. And this was caused by a narrow but long stretch of thunderstorms that put 15" of rain on us in 12 hours. Imagine if such a storm had taken in a greater area of South Florida. Many who had lived here for 40 years, flooded out for the first time. For more information http://www.disastercenter.com/florida/florida.htm.

Who pays? You if you do not have Flood Insurance. Your home's insurance will not pay for floods. The Federal Government's FEMA program will only help if a Disaster Area is declared. 90% of all disasters are not declared such by the President of the United States. In this most recent flood, President Clinton got caught in the storm and realized how bad it was. This may be the only reason FEMA was called in. (See http://www.fema.gov/)

Flood Insurance can normally be obtained for $300 per $100,000 in coverage. GET FLOOD INSURANCE - IT IS THE CHEAPEST WAY OUT...To see an article on Flood Insurance, please click http://www.miami-dade-online.com/Flood-Insurance.htm.

For a full FEMA report on the October 3, 2000 storm see http://www.fema.gov/diz00/d1345.htm

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