According to the residents, they have experienced flooding in the past.
“We have had flooding in the past,” one resident commented last night, “however, it only happens when the high tide goes up to 7 feet.”In phone interviews with local fishermen, they contend that tides are at their highest at the beginning and the end of the phases of the moon – New Moon and Full Moon. Further, they said that high tides are expected to reach 7 feet or more in May and August.The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which does predictions for the tide calendar for Palau, lists yesterday’s high tide – as of 8:02 p.m. – at 6.7 feet above sea level – defined as the height of the sea with respect to a land benchmark, averaged over a period of time.Yesterday’s high tide listing, according to the fishermen, is “off by at least 10 inches.”“There are distinct markings at the docks that were made based on previous tide predictions years ago by those before us,” a fisherman said, “to indicate high and low tides. Yesterday’s high tides were above 7 feet.”Some of the residents further added that they had not experienced flooding this early in the year in the past years.One resident commented that the unusual tides are “the direct result of global warming.”If that were true, the residents and those who live on higher grounds must prepare themselves for even higher tides in May and August.
