To the editor:

These past few years have shown an increase in extreme weather events across the globe: heat waves, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and Sea Level Rise. So far this year, the U.S. has experienced a record fifteen extreme weather disasters totaling nearly $40 billion.

Insurance premiums are skyrocketing as climate risk grows. Homeowners in some coastal areas of the United States are paying six figures a year to insure their houses against flooding and other impacts of the kind that Hurricane Idalia brought to Florida. Who will pay the potential hundreds of thousands of dollars for insurance costs for Marion’s new Harbormaster office? The taxpayers?

How does one access the Harbormaster’s office when the ground beneath the building is under twenty feet of water, and hurricane winds are whipping up mighty waves? Will the Harbormaster and his/her employees be able to effectively carry out their marine-related duties and responsibilities from their precarious perch high in the air?

Will the Harbormaster and employees be riding out storms and hurricanes from inside a risky 1,700 +/- s.f. box situated 23.5 feet in the air? I believe thoughtful and sensible consideration must be given to a trailer that will serve as the Harbormaster office. A trailer can be hauled out of harm’s way during powerful storms, but a box perilously suspended 23.5 feet in the air is a target. A target that could be blown to smithereens scattering debris far and wide. The health and safety of the Harbormaster and others must come first, and the several millions of dollars saved on this extreme and extravagant project could be used for vital community projects.

Sincerely,

Eileen J. Marum, Marion