Climate change report: Lee, Charlotte counties at ‘extreme’ risk over next 30 years

One of the most at-risk cities in the United States – Cape Coral.

“There’s a reason why people live in Cape Coral. It’s a beautiful place, people want to live on the canals, they want to be close to the water. But that does come with that risk of flooding,” he explained.

Up the coast from Cape Coral, Charlotte County as listed as the 10th most at-risk county in the country.

Claire Jubb, assistant administrator with Charlotte County, said, “Dealing with flooding and flooding risk is nothing new for us. So really, it’s planned into everything that we do.”

Jubb said the county is focused on stormwater and drainage, and its involvement in the Southwest Florida Regional Resiliency Compact. “We can have a regional approach to resiliency and the impacts of climate change, which I think will help us leverage, certainly more dollars from the state and federal and certainly have a more cohesive approach to it across the region.”

Melissa Mickey, spokeswoman for the City of Cape Coral, said all citizens and business owners should be familiar with flooding risks in their area.