Category Archives: Miami

New pest in the neighborhood:

A dangerous snail of gigantic proportions is gradually invading Miami Dade County, threatening to consume plants and plaster and infect humans along its way.

The creature, known as the Giant African Land Snail (GALS!), is "one of the most damaging snails in the world," the [Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services] says. The slow-moving sloth not only can consume at least 500 different types of plants, but "can cause structural damage to plaster and stucco and can carry a parasitic nematode that can lead to meningitis in humans.”

Wait a minute: this snail eats stucco? It can eat my house?

I mean, it’s a snail, right — just how fast does it eat a house? It and its 1200 descendants…

In today’s news:

• Man hid snakes, tortoises in his pants, TSA says
• Beyonce’s sister: Miami Beach police tried to deflate my giant banana

Yes, really.

Tourists are not only back in force, but are coming here year-round:

“It used to be that August here was slow, reserved mostly for us locals,” said Carmen Ferreira, a graphic artist, who last week dined poolside with friends at the Soho Beach House, a private club and hotel on Collins Avenue. “But that just isn’t true anymore.” In Miami Beach, the once-strict delineation between high and low seasons has eroded of late. Rogue squalls and the intermittent threat of hurricanes (and a restiveness fueled by an unstable economy) have done little to stem the tide of tourists thronging restaurants, bars, hotels and shops, and crowding beaches to catch a vagrant gust of wind.

Their presence has fattened the city’s coffers, driving retail sales and boosting hotel occupancy to new seasonal highs, transforming Miami Beach and its environs from a wan summer ghost town into a magnet for visitors of every stripe.

…

Celebrities busy on a few productions being filmed in Miami this summer, including “Rock of Ages,” and TV shows like the coming “Charlie’s Angels” and “Magic City,” set in 1960s Miami Beach, have lured the paparazzi, who perch on rooftops, prowl the beach and stand rooted like sentries near the doors of the city’s most fashionable dining spots.

And, foreigners love it here so much they are snapping up real estate.

South Florida is the default capital of the country. Here in Miami-Dade County, one out of five households with mortgages is in foreclosure. Nearby Broward and Palm Beach counties are not far behind. Nearly 200,000 South Florida families are stuck in the mire of default.

…

And yet much of Miami is gripped by a housing mania as the oversupply of distressed homes dries up and foreigners and investors swoon. Only a few years after it seemed there were so many unwanted high-rise condominiums that the only solution was to tear some of them down, there are plans to build even more.

Home sales in the metropolitan area during the first half of the year rose 16 percent from 2010 for the best spring since 2007, according to the research firm DataQuick, far outpacing the negligible growth in the rest of the country. Two-thirds of the sales were all cash.

…

“The Brazilians walk in, they don’t even negotiate,” said Mr. Dezer, who said he would announce two new projects by the end of the year. “It’s a no-brainer for them.”

Even right-wing propagandists love South Florida:

Palm Beach and South Florida have become a magnet for conservative media personalities. Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter, Dick Morris, Conrad Black and Lou Dobbs have all moved in over the years.

Newsmax, a Web site and magazine popular with Tea Party conservatives, decided to establish its headquarters not in the conventional media hubs of New York or Washington, but instead in West Palm Beach.

…

Opinions differ over why so many conservative media stars have relocated here. No state income tax. Only two hours from New York and Washington, yet a world away in mind-set. Year-round warm weather.

So why is local unemployment over 10%? And who is worrying about the long-term consequences?

Actually, so far Tropical Storm Emily doesn’t seem like a big deal for South Florida:

DATA FROM A RECONNAISSANCE PLANE INDICATE THAT EMILY REMAINS POORLY ORGANIZED. THE MINIMUM PRESSURE IS AROUND 1007 MB… AND WINDS ARE LIGHT OR VARIABLE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS KEPT AT 35 KNOTS. THE ENVIRONMENT IS NOT IDEAL FOR STRENGTHENING SINCE THERE IS SOME DRY AIR TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF THE STORM…BUT THE OFFICIAL FORECAST CALLS FOR A SLIGHT INTENSIFICATION AS SUGGESTED BY THE SHIPS…GFDL AND HWRF MODELS. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE RELIABLE GFS AND ECMWF GLOBAL MODELS NO LONGER DEVELOP EMILY…AND IN FACT…BOTH MODELS BASICALLY DISSIPATE THE CYCLONE NEAR HISPANIOLA.

In any case, around here Tropical Storm force winds tend not do much more than rough up the vegetation a bit, although it’s not something you want to be out driving in. But I do think we’re in for a busy season of weather-with-a-name — there wasn’t any report of African dust in the air this summer, and I’m coming to think that it’s the dust that has kept hurricane activity tame the last few years.

Apparently, large chunks of the US are hotter than Miami this week.

Seems unnatural, somehow.