The waters of King Tide flooding Florida's Atlantic coast this weekend could contain red tide algae, warn officials

Health departments have long warned residents to avoid making contact with floodwaters because studies have shown that flood waters recover pollutants from the road and septic tanks that leak. But now, the increased risk of toxic algae in floodwaters has led Miami officials to issue more intense warnings, reports the Miami Herald.

"I hope that he will be dead by then, but you can not count on that," Stephen Leatherman, a coastal environmental scientist at Florida International University, told the newspaper. "I hope the best."

High tides, a term commonly used to describe exceptionally high tides usually occur during a new or full moon and when the moon is at its perigee every 28 days, should cause at least some minor flooding from mid-Atlantic central states to southern Florida over the weekend. end.

The moon reached the perigee, its closest approach point to Earth on Friday, October 5, and reached the new moon phase on Monday, October 8. This results in what is called a perigean spring tide.

The National Ocean Service reports that states in the central Atlantic and Southeast littoral region may see minor floods caused by tides in low-lying areas along the coast.

Reopening of Miami-Dade beaches

Meanwhile, the Miami-Dade beaches that were closed on Thursday will reopen on Friday, but warnings were given to swimmers after tests confirmed the presence of a red tide in the ocean waters., according to local reports.

The decision to reopen the beaches According to the Miami Herald, local authorities have met environmental officials responsible for the environment.

An "average concentration" of algae related to the red tide was confirmed by laboratory tests conducted in the Inlet Haulover Inlet, which connects Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, said the mayor of Miami-Dade, Carlos Gimenez, at the Miami Herald. It is thought that the algae came from the Gulf.

Just south of Haulover, tests in Miami Beach and Key Biscayne revealed levels too low to allow the beach to close.

While red tide is rare on the Atlantic coast of Florida, officials confirmed that she had reached the waters off Palm Beach County on Monday night. The tests were extended along the east coast, including four beaches in Miami-Dade County and Broward County areas, as well as waters two miles offshore.

"Every time the red tide spills into Miami-Dade County, it will have an impact," said Gimenez. "There was a moderate level north of Haulover, so we made the decision, look, let's close the beach, take precautions and talk to the people on the west coast."

The duration of the tide depends on the amount of algae, winds and current. If coastal currents displace the tide, conditions may deteriorate along beaches south of the affected areas.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Sunday it detected "low to medium concentrations Natural Red Tide "in water samples taken off Palm Beach County after a number of people complained of respiratory tract, skin and eye irritations that they were on the beaches of the Atlantic during the weekend.

The red tide has invaded the beaches on the southwestern coast of the Gulf of Florida since last fall. In August, Governor Rick Scott declared the state of emergency because of the proliferation of algae. In mid-September, the red tide caused the death of a fish en masse on the beaches of Pinellas County. Persistent bloom also killed fish, manatees, dolphins and sea turtles in Monroe, Collier, Charlotte, Lee, Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

Karenia brevis, the organisms responsible for the red tide are found almost exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but the beaches on the Atlantic coast are not immune.

The release of Palm Beach County's press release on 57 tidal red occurrences in the Gulf of Mexico since 1953, eight have reached the east coast in the Palm Beach County area. All eight are from the Gulf and have been transported by currents on the east coast, the statement said.

The red tide is not the same as the epidemic of toxic blue-green algae that started in Lake Okeechobee and has spread in lake estuaries in much of the South Florida this summer.

Red tides are natural algal blooms that form in marine waters, while blue-green algae are caused by cyanobacteria and are formed in freshwater.

According to the FWC, the proliferation of blue-green algae comes from a runoff containing human waste and fertilizer from farms and neighboring neighborhoods. Nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as other nutrients contained in polluted runoff, can act as fertilizer for algae, creating a significant and lasting flowering.