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First Coast mayors take sea-level rise concerns to Washington D.C.

The summit will bring 19 current Florida mayors to the nation's capital to hear from experts and talk to Congress about the issue of flooding and sea-level rise.

The American Flood Coalition is hosting its first Florida Mayors Summit in Washington, D.C. The summit will bring 19 current mayors, representing a population of more than 2.6 million people from across Florida, to the nation's capital to hear from experts and talk to members of Congress about the issue of flooding and sea-level rise.

According to the American Flood Coalition, "Florida is on the front lines of flooding and is working to find innovative solutions to the challenges the state is facing. With 1,300 miles of exposed coastline, frequent inland and tidal flooding, and destructive hurricanes and storm surge, many are looking to Florida to learn from the response of local and state officials."

The summit will also feature innovative solutions specifically geared for the Sunshine State; panelists include Dr. Julia Nesheiwat, Chief Resilience Officer for the State of Florida, and Mayor Francis X. Suarez from the City of Miami.

Neptune Beach Mayor Elaine Brown has been working on this issue for years.

"Florida is on the front lines of flooding and we think we all know that," she said. "It’s a crisis for the future and we can’t leave it unattended, we have to take care of it. There are other cities that have done more than we have and we’re going to be playing catch up."

Brown says they'll be joining scientists and meeting lawmakers, hoping to stress the need for financial collaboration so they can adapt to environmental changes, like restructuring the beach's entire drainage system, which is an expensive undertaking. 

"There were different pipe sizes, so now if there is more rain, more flooding, more sea-level rise, you have to be able to handle that impact," she said.

According to the National Weather Service, the sea-level around Florida is up 8 inches from 1950. Scientists say it’s now rising by 1 inch every 3 years, so in 20 years it’s expected to rise nearly 7 inches in Florida alone.

St. Augustine Mayor Tracey Upchurch is also heading to D.C. for the summit.

"In St. Augustine, we’re concerned about mobility, we’re concerned about the quality of life especially in the downtown area," Upchurch said. "It’s of tremendous concern to my community."

He’ll be joined in D.C. by former mayor Nancy Shaver, who was a major advocate in the sea-level rise debate.

St. Augustine has always been vulnerable to flooding due to its aging drainage system.

"It’s not an abstract that’s happening in the arctic or the Antarctic, the personal impact of the situation makes the global issue more real," Upchurch said. 

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