New York State: Natural Disaster Sustainability Program: Preparing for the Next Major Hurricane
New York State: Natural Disaster Sustainability Program:
Preparing for the Next Major Hurricane
It is an unfortunate reality that societies seem willing to invest in adequate flood risk reduction only after large disasters. The hurricane protection system of New Orleans was improved at a cost of about $14 billion after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. The storm surge flooding of 1953 in the Netherlands caused enormous damage and the loss of more than 1,800 lives. This prompted the development of a comprehensive system of storm surge barriers, gates and levees to protect the Southwest of the Netherlands against these events (Jonkman, 2012).
The New York Metropolitan region is vulnerable to coastal flooding and large-scale damage to city infrastructure from hurricanes and nor’easters. Much of this region lies less than three meters above mean sea level; in total this includes an area of about 260 square kilometers. Within this area lies critical infrastructure such as hospitals, airports, railroad and subway station entrances, highways, water treatment outfalls and combined sewer outfalls at or near sea level
(“Stony Brook Storm Surge Research Group,” 2002).
Recent storms have already revealed the intrinsic potential for disaster in this region. For example the nor’easter of December 1992 flooded the entrance of the Hoboken Path train station with seawater, short-circuiting the electric trains and city subways, and shutting down the entire system. Fortunately, no lives were lost but there would have been fatalities if the sea had risen another foot. During this century, rising sea level will aggravate storm surges along the New
York City metro region coast, causing more severe flooding and increasing the frequency of these floods (“Stony Brook Storm Surge Research Group,” 2002).
According to Bas Jonkman, who is a professor of hydraulic engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, he concurs that the immense damage after
Preparing for the Next Major Hurricane
It is an unfortunate reality that societies seem willing to invest in adequate flood risk reduction only after large disasters. The hurricane protection system of New Orleans was improved at a cost of about $14 billion after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. The storm surge flooding of 1953 in the Netherlands caused enormous damage and the loss of more than 1,800 lives. This prompted the development of a comprehensive system of storm surge barriers, gates and levees to protect the Southwest of the Netherlands against these events (Jonkman, 2012).
The New York Metropolitan region is vulnerable to coastal flooding and large-scale damage to city infrastructure from hurricanes and nor’easters. Much of this region lies less than three meters above mean sea level; in total this includes an area of about 260 square kilometers. Within this area lies critical infrastructure such as hospitals, airports, railroad and subway station entrances, highways, water treatment outfalls and combined sewer outfalls at or near sea level
(“Stony Brook Storm Surge Research Group,” 2002).
Recent storms have already revealed the intrinsic potential for disaster in this region. For example the nor’easter of December 1992 flooded the entrance of the Hoboken Path train station with seawater, short-circuiting the electric trains and city subways, and shutting down the entire system. Fortunately, no lives were lost but there would have been fatalities if the sea had risen another foot. During this century, rising sea level will aggravate storm surges along the New
York City metro region coast, causing more severe flooding and increasing the frequency of these floods (“Stony Brook Storm Surge Research Group,” 2002).
According to Bas Jonkman, who is a professor of hydraulic engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, he concurs that the immense damage after
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