Florida's Hurricane Floods Sparked Deadly Fires
And more about the human and environmental costs of renewable energy and digital technology —and how we can do better.
Florida’s Hurricane Floods Sparked Deadly Fires
The two hurricanes that assaulted Florida over the last few weeks brought death and destruction by water—and also, perversely, by fire. The floodwaters had the paradoxical effect of igniting battery fires in electric vehicles large and small, killing at least one person and leaving a family homeless.
Salt water can corrode lithium-ion batteries and cause them to short-circuit, bursting into flames. So when storm surges from Hurricanes Helene and Milton inundated garages and homes along Florida’s Gulf Coast, leaving electric cars, scooters and even wheelchairs sitting in ocean brine, dozens caught fire. State officials have tallied at least 57 hurricane-sparked battery fires, 12 of which involved electric cars. One elderly man was killed when his golf cart battery exploded into flames.
State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis warned EV owners to get their cars to higher ground ahead of the hurricanes, calling salt water-damaged electric vehicles “ticking time bombs.” The danger didn’t end with the hurricanes, either. It can take a while before a damaged battery ignites. Damaged cars have caught fire while being towed away. One family living on the coast near Sarasota survived Hurricane Helene, only for their water-damaged Tesla to burst into flames three days later, heavily damaging their home.
“Lithium battery fires after salt water flooding are not a new worry. The first reported EV fires emerged as far back as Oct. 2012 after Hurricane Sandy,” reports the Miami Herald. “But as more and more drivers go electric, there have been more of them.” During Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida in 2022, at least 36 electric cars caught fire, according to a report by Idaho National Laboratory. It’s become common enough that battery recycling company Redwood Materials has started a sideline in recovering burned EV batteries after disasters, including last year’s massive fire in Hawaii. And the danger has unnerved at least one Florida scooter rental shop enough to ditch electrics and go back to gas-only vehicles.
Lithium battery fires are a real concern, as attentive readers like yourself already know well. But it’s also important to keep the whole issue in perspective. Salt water-induced short circuits are mainly a worry only in coastal areas prone to ocean flooding (which, granted, is a growing category). And in terms of overall risk, gasoline powered vehicles are much more likely to catch fire. “Data from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board shows that there are approximately 25 fires for every 100,000 EVs sold,” says the Herald. “That’s in comparison to approximately 1,530 fires for every 100,000 gas-powered vehicles sold.” Bottom line: don’t let the fire hazard scare you away from buying an EV. But do be careful where you park it.
In other post-hurricane news…Remember last week’s item about how Hurricane Helene had shut down two mines in North Carolina that produce most of the world’s supply of an ultra-pure quartz critical to computer chip manufacturing? Well, at least one of them is now back in business. That’s good news for the global economy, but the nearby town of Spruce Pine is still recovering. You can send a donation to help here.
Power Metal For Your Ears
I took a shot at doing something new last week: I recorded the audio version of my forthcoming book, Power Metal. It was much harder than I expected—sorta like giving a speech for six hours straight, three days in a row. On the other hand, it was a huge kick to discover I was recording in the historic studio of Vancouver’s GGRP Sound, where bands including AC/DC, Metallica, Aerosmith and local heroes Pointed Sticks have also laid down tracks. I figure that makes me the Steven Tyler of audiobooks, right?
Anyway, if you’re so inclined you can judge the results for yourself when Power Metal comes out on November 19, in all formats. If you’re interested in the book, whether you like to listen or to read, e-book or paper, let me mightily encourage you to preorder now! Preorders make a big difference in whether a book is deemed a “bestseller” and in how Amazon’s all-powerful algorithm displays books. In other words, preorders are a big help to me and to the cause of getting some important journalism out to a wider audience. Right now, Amazon is offering 10% off on preorders. Or you can buy from your local independent bookstore via Bookshop.org.
Still need convincing? Well, Scientific American just gave the book a nice review. You can also get a taste of what it’s all about from this interview I just did with NPR’s Marketplace.
More News Worth Knowing
📣 Kamala Harris Calls for US Critical Minerals Stockpile
🗽 Washington Says Indonesia’s Nickel Industry Uses Forced Labor
☠️ Pope Condemns Killing of Honduran Anti-Mining Activist
⛰ This Might Be the Year Global Carbon Emissions Peak
💴 US Rare Earth Projects Stumble, Tripped Up by China
🤯 A Press Release You Wouldn’t Have Thought Was Necessary, but Here We Are: “Hurricane Helene Was NOT Geoengineered by the Government to Seize Lithium Deposits in North Carolina”