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Alex Harris - Miami Herald staff writer
Alex Harris

Miami Herald staff writer

Alex Harris covers climate change for the Miami Herald, including how South Florida communities are adapting to the warming world. She attended the University of Florida.

  1. Florida Keys may abandon some roads to sea rise rather than raise them
    Dec. 6• Environment
    Motorists head north of Key Largo on U.S. 1, in anticipation of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017. Keys officials announced a mandatory evacuation Wednesday for visitors, with residents being told to leave the next day. [Associated Press]
    Elevating less than 3 miles of Old State Road 4A by 2025 could cost $75 million.
  2. Florida Keys faces huge bill to survive sea rise. Will state help?
    Nov. 26• Environment
    This is a king tide at the Key Largo Kampground & Marina in Key Largo. (Photo by Nancy Snyder)
    Monroe County is asking for $150 million to raise roads, elevate homes and even move critical buildings to higher ground.
  3. Florida’s troops face more heat risk from climate change than any other state
    Nov. 14• Military
    Maintainers prepare KC-135s refueling planes to be evacuated from MacDill Air Force Base in August. A new study predicts MacDill and other Florida bases will experience a sharp rise in the number of days when the heat index tops 100 degrees Fahrenheit, making it unsafe to be outside for extended periods.
    MacDill Air Force Base is predicted to see big increases in days the heat index tops 100 degrees.
  4. Florida’s building code doesn’t take sea rise into account. That could change this year.
    Nov. 12• Florida
    Flood-elevation requirements for permanent Florida Keys homes could mean local ‘tiny homes’ wind up with more square footage than most of the diminutive domiciles.
    “We cannot keep building the way we always have and expect a different outcome in future disasters.”
  5. In Florida, home sellers don’t have to disclose a history of flooding
    Oct. 26• Environment
    Water from heavy rain floods a driveway in August on Snell Isle Boulevard NE in St. Petersburg. ALLIE GOULDING | Times
    Texas now requires sellers to disclose past flooding when marketing their house. Florida has no such law.
  6. Miami Beach has a bold idea to fight sea rise: Turn a golf course into wetlands
    Sep. 23• Environment
    Golfers practice at the Miami Beach Golf Club at 2301 Alton Road, on Sept.18.
    The city is exploring more nature-based solutions in an effort to keep the city dry.
  7. Democratic candidates reveal tough new reality for Florida on climate change
    Sep. 12• The Buzz
    Signage is erected for the upcoming Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by ABC on the campus of Texas Southern University, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
    Telling people in swing states like Florida that they may have to leave their homes isn’t a popular political move.
  8. Girl, 8, got on 'tippy toes' to peer over cruise ship railing, then fell to her death
    Oct. 17, 2017• News
    Friends and family mourn Zion Smith, the 8-year-old girl who fell to her death aboard a Carnival cruise in Miami this weekend. [Image from Facebook]
  9. Mother whose Miami teen livestreamed suicide describes events of that night
    Mar. 17, 2017• News
    Gina Alexis, center, mother of 14-year-old Nakia Venant, who livestreamed her suicide on Facebook, pauses as she talks about her daughter during a news conference, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, in Plantation. Nakia Venant's suicide is at least the third to be livestreamed nationally in the last month. [Associated Press]
  10. Hundreds of people watched a Miami teen kill herself in a live stream video, but no one got her help in time
    Jan. 26, 2017• News
    Among items posted on Facebook was a haunting text message exchange involving Naika Venant, who hanged herself at a Miami Gardens foster home while live-streaming on Facebook.