Record-Setting Year for Weather Sets the Stage for Resilient Solutions at South Florida Climate Leadership Conference

Cities around the world are feeling the impacts of a changing climate, and communities in South Florida are one of those especially vulnerable. From record-setting rainfall (the nearly 26 inches of rain in one day at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport) to the fourth most active Atlantic hurricane season on record in 2023, the area is often considered ground zero for climate impacts. 

That backdrop is why Jacobs joined more than 900 leaders from the business, government, academic and nonprofit community at the 15th Annual Southeast Florida Climate Leadership Summit to help cities and municipalities better prepare for tomorrow’s climate challenges.

Jacobs Client Account Manager John Elizabeth Aleman provided opening remarks at the Welcome Reception and highlighted Jacobs’ work in Miami-Dade County to build a Resilience Hub Network to support underserved communities throughout the county. She also talked about how Jacobs is partnering with coastal cities like Miami Beach to help shore up vulnerable infrastructure by incorporating flood mitigation and water quality improvements to reduce environmental impacts.

During a discussion on military resilience, Jacobs Community and Military Resilience Planner Sarah Marrs talked about the South Florida Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR), the first of its kind and one of the first regional MIRRs in the country. 

"During this project, we looked at climate-related hazards such as sea level rise and flooding to understand the impact on the critical missions that our military installations and personnel perform, but also how they compound other critical stressors like energy reliability, attainable housing for staff, and encroachment at the perimeter," shares Sarah.

The methodologies for vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy development Jacobs delivered during the South Florida MIRR are serving as a blueprint as Jacobs works on MIRRs in other parts of Florida, including the Emerald Coast MIRR in the Florida Panhandle and the East Central Florida MIRR in the middle of the state.

Jacobs also recently joined an additional group of more than 1,000 coastal scientists, managers, nonprofit leaders and state and federal leaders at the Gulf of Mexico Conference in Tampa centered around coastal flooding and resiliency. One of our community resilience strategists, Hank Hodde, even talked with the local Fox affiliate about our work with clients, like Pinellas County in Florida, to tackle sea level rise. 

"[Sea level rise] is a more chronic problem that affects infrastructure," Hank shares. "And it affects homes and affects commutes, you know, just daily life."

In Pinellas County, we're working on a flood mitigation plan to help propose mitigation and adaptation strategies to protect critical infrastructure and communities from rising tides. We're also working with clients to use data to better predict and prepare for flooding and other climate-related issues. 

As communities around the world feel the impacts of a changing climate, Jacobs is uniquely positioned to help city leaders and organizations alike strengthen and safeguard their communities and assets.