Even in FEMA's preliminary new maps for Miami-Dade, thousands of reports from the last decade are outside the new 100-year and 500-year flood zones.

Note: some South Florida municipalities provided lots of data, others none at all so the maps in this story provide only a partial picture and almost certainly underestimate the problem. However, what they do show is that there are hundreds of reports outside the current FEMA flood zones.

Excerpts from Brightline’s motion to dismiss Florida East Coast Railway, LLC v. Brightline Trains Florida, LLC filed July 29, 2025

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Excerpt from Florida East Coast Railway, LLC v. Brightline Trains Florida, LLC filed July 11, 2025

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Excerpt from Florida East Coast Railway, LLC v. Brightline Trains Florida, LLC filed July 11, 2025

Read more www.miamiherald.com/news/local/a...
@miamiherald.com + @wlrnnews.bsky.social

Excerpt from Florida East Coast Railway, LLC v. Brightline Trains Florida, LLC filed July 11, 2025

Read more at: www.miamiherald.com/news/local/a...

Brightline remains the deadliest major passenger railroad in the United States, according to a Herald/WLRN analysis of data from 2018 to 2024 from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Data analysis and chart by my colleagues @shradhadinesh.bsky.social‬ @arbourtrary.com‬

While Brightline trains have hit vehicles at least 167 times since starting operations in 2018, 158 of the 182 deaths since Brightline started in 2017 were on foot or bicycle.

Much of the Brightline route is at grade and unfenced. There are also many crossings where pedestrian gates could be used.

Brightline trains have killed 182 people, significantly more than publicly known, an investigation by the Miami Herald and WLRN, South Florida’s NPR member station, has found.

Read more here: www.miamiherald.com/news/local/a...

FEMA data shows the agency has paid out $16.8 billion in damages since 2000 on more than 220,000 claims — some doled out repeatedly to the same problematic properties. The agency doesn’t share the addresses, even with buyers.

The first story in our “Floods of Trouble” series is out from @miamiherald.com.

"How secret flood histories cost Florida home buyers and mask state’s risk" by @harrisalexc.bsky.social

And here's a map showing the over 800 miles that chinook salmon travel from the Pacific Ocean to the Stibnite mine to spawn.

Here's a little explainer about antimony by Sohail Al-Jamea

Perpetua Resources plans to dig hundreds of feet deeper to re-mine two existing open pits, Yellow Pine and West End — later backfilling each with millions of tons of waste rock. A 475-foot-tall tailings dam extending about two miles would be established nearby, and bury beneath it Meadow Creek.

Hurricane Helene stole more than 100 lives in North Carolina. The Charlotte Observer (@charlotteobserver.bsky.social) and Raleigh's News & Observer (@thenewsobserver.bsky.social) teamed up to tell their stories

Read more: www.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...

On Friday, @miamiherald.bsky.social published a story about an investigation into a catastrophic boat crash in 2022 by @grethelaguila.bsky.social and David Goodhue.

It gave me the opportunity to create a map that walks readers through the FWC's GPS report of the vessel's route that day.

No claims to fame, but I do graphics, maps, reporting, and dev for McClatchy newsrooms i.e. Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, Kansas City Star. My favorite project still to date was mapping all of the poultry farms in North Carolina.

My not-so-perfect website can be found here: semerriam.github.io

Guilty of Grief: A new Miami Herald series by Carol Marbin Miller, Linda Robertson, and Camellia Burris.

"She turns to police for help with her troubled son. It ends in a shooting that lays bare Florida’s broken mental health system — and cost her everything."

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...