This Florida Keys Neighborhood Has Been Flooded For Nearly 3 Months
"On Key Largo, to walk to Paul Butler's house it's best to wear rubber boots. "Did you
see the 'No Wake' sign?" he asks. The recently installed "No Wake" signs are for drivers, not boaters."
"There are several inches of water on his street and others in this low-lying neighborhood. Butler has lived here 25 years and seen this kind of flooding before."
'It used to happen once a year during king tide, but it would only last for like a week or 10 days,' he says. 'This year, it's been going on for about 75 days, I think.' Other neighbors put it at 80 days and counting."
"The flooding here and elsewhere is happening during so-called "king tides." Those are times, mostly in the fall, when the moon's gravitational pull means tides are higher than usual.
"On Key Largo, the water doesn't drain, because there's nowhere for it to go. Brian Boylan says his flooded street is basically even with the bay, and during king tide the seawater overtops the canal in his backyard. 'You can see it coming right out of the ground,' he says.'Sometimes you can even see it bubbling.'"