Analysis of Demands on Infrastructure and Emergency Management in Relation to Trends of Coastal Development in Florida

From 1960 to 1990, Florida's population nearly tripled, increasing from 4.951 million to 12.938 million people. The intense urban settlement activities resulted into a string of settlement centers along the coastal areas especially in the southeast and central west coasts. High numbers of permit filings in recent years in various Florida counties indicate that population density will continue to increase especially in the southeast coastal regions. Projections of the population per mile of coastline suggest that, by the year 2010, the population density on Florida's east and west coasts will increase about 130 percent from 1990 levels. Risk is defined as the product of probability of an event and its consequences. Land use characteristics and land development activities are the major factors that contribute to vulnerability in high-risk coastal areas to hurricanes. This paper addresses the consequence component of the risk equation in terms of population increase and land use in view of the infrastructure demands for hurricane preparedness. Changing demands on infrastructure and emergency management are addressed in view of the changing needs of the communities.