Floods, rip currents, and storm surges are the big risk, with freshwater flooding inland accounting for over half of drownings. To help with real-time, the Southeast Atlantic (SEA) Econet network of atmospheric and hydrological monitoring stations provide the real-time data used by the National Weather Service.
The SEA Econet spans from Key West to Waities Island, South Carolina, with Florida Atlantic University’s Sensing Institute (I-SENSE) managing the entire Florida subnetwork; 160 atmospheric and 30 water-level stations across 32 counties in Florida. It's good for them to promote them when the federal government is making the biggest cuts to science funding since the Clinton presidency. The reason they want people to know what they are doing is that unlike others in the National Mesonet Program, which are funded by their states, FAU has instead gotten $8 million from the federal government, which means 49 other states are paying for Florida infrastructure.
Atmospheric and water-level stations across 32 counties in Florida. Credit: FAU I-SENSE
And they'd like other states to expand their network from 160 to 445 stations over the next five years. It seems wrong to have other states paying for local Florida work but it will likely save money on the long-term. Many residents remain unprepared for hurricanes, or willingly place themselves in harm's way, and politicians in every state want to look like they are showing leadership when disasters happen - by getting money from the federal government.
Taxpayers, directly and through higher insurance premiums paid due to hurricane damage, have already absorbed more than $400 billion in direct weather-related costs since 1980, the second-highest total in the nation. Recent hurricanes Helene and Milton, with an estimated combined damage of more than $100 billion and 237 confirmed deaths, highlights the need to get people out of harm's way faster.
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