The Rotary Club of Norfolk kicked off 2018 with a look at a serious issue facing our region -- sea level rise. Skip Stiles (r), the speaker at our January 2 luncheon meeting, is executive director of Wetlands Watch, a 10-year-old statewide environmental organization based in Norfolk. Skip updated us on our region's challenges. Among them is that the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences estimates that by 2075 Virginia will have lost as much as 80 percent of its protective tidal wetlands due to sea level rise.
Skip explained that 5,000 years ago sea level rise stopped throughout the world, but that 100 years ago it started to go up. Right now Norfolk has the highest level along the Atlantic Coast because of both rising seas and sinking ground. Duck hunters near West Point were the first to sound the alarm bell about sea level rise 30 years ago when they noticed wetlands along the Pamunkey River disappearing. That led to VIMS and other organizations studying wetlands loss and organizations like Wetlands Watch working to replace them.
Older urban cities like Hampton, Norfolk and Portsmouth deal with nuisance flooding and storm water pipes that are frequently under water. In addition, the entire region faces intensifying rainfall with big events like Hurricane Matthew that dropped 70 inches on Virginia Beach in three days and flooded neighborhoods where that had never happened. Residential real estate sales in areas that require flood insurance are being impacted since buyers do not want to pay the rising rates for mandatory federal flood insurance.
Skip noted that each city in Hampton Roads is starting to address sea level rise with Norfolk being the most aggressive with new building requirements and proposals for seawalls and other barriers. Efforts across the region are fragmented with no over-all plan and will cost billions of dollars to execute. The military also is working on the issue since every base in the region borders a body of water. Having the military involved is bringing some coordination to efforts to mitigate sea level rise.
At the end of our meeting President Gary Boswick honored Skip with a book for our school of the week the Academy for Discovery at Lakewood. The book is the appropriately named Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom.
The Meeting
Jane Dembert, our administrator, was honored with a Paul Harris Fellow designation.
We were sad to learn that long-time Rotarian Walt Grandy, a past club president, passed away. President Gary will update members on funeral arrangements, which are being handled by H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments' Norfolk branch.
Bob Ash is recuperating from his kayaking accident with intensive physical therapy. He hopes to be at a meeting soon. Ted Baker was in the hospital but is home.
We celebrated January birthdays for Ann Baldwin, Greg Bockheim, Jane Dembert, Collins Gooch, Ray Norton, Ann Sullivan, Greg Sutton and Paul Sykes.
Congratulations and Fines
The following happy bucks were paid to benefit Norfolk Rotary Charities:
Gary Boswick for Chip Vogan rocking his Christmas jacket at the Rotary holiday luncheon. Chip matched the contribution.
Shep Miller in honor of his medical team for caring for him during his recent surgery, Rotarian friends for bringing him to the meeting and Rev. Win Lewis for bringing communion.
Jay Kossman for having won a recent club raffle and for not being able to introduce his guest Barbara Henley at the December holiday luncheon.
Sharon Laderberg for wins for her family's South Carolina and Alabama football teams.
Lisa Chandler for having a first grandchild on the way.
Carlisle Wroton, our Rotarian of the Day, for remembering his late mother's 101st birthday.
Jim Kitz for Army's stellar football season and for Navy's win in its bowl game.
Lorna Cochrane for being in a warm climate while her family freezes in Canada.