New York City Floods and Its Consequences - Research Paper Example

New York Floods and its Consequences “Floods are the most common natural disaster in both developed and developing countries, and they are occasionally of devastating impact, as the floods in China in 1959 and Bangladesh in 1974 and the tsunami in Southeast Asia in December 2004.” (Ahern and Kovats et al., 36) The impacts on health also vary between the populations according to the exposure of floods and how bad it is. The reason of why America and especially New York City is the victim of so many years over the past few years is because of drastic changes in climate which raises the level of the sea and hence the intensity of floods in many regions of America increases every now and then. As some of environmental conservationists have proposed that New York follow Amsterdam in protecting its coastline from flooding. In this paper we would analyze research and discuss the topic. INTRODUCTION “Floods are among the most powerful forces on earth. Human societies worldwide have lived and died with floods from the very beginning, spawning a prominent role for floods within legends, religions, and history.” (O’Connor, J.E., and Costa, J.E., 7) There are several geologists, historians, and hydrologists have critically reviewed the impact of floods and its consequences on humanity and how it supports the ecosystems as well. Therefore, this results in detailed elaboration of the role of floods shaping up the lives of different individuals and families. The extreme flooding in the United States over the past few years or decades have determined the restrictions and limitations of the nonstructural flood control in the country. NEW YORK CITY HAZARDS Many studies and researches have shown that the floods in the United States have cost the property losses of more than $1 billion. In the recent years, New York City has been the victim of devastating and horrendous floods. The records that were held for centuries were fallen and broken and major areas of New York City have been evacuated as well. Furthermore, the territories and towns now lack to communicate from the outside world as well as their neighboring societies. All the disasters New York has faced over the recent years have attacked with such cruelty and fierceness that many historic structures were damaged, families were destroyed, many lives were taken away, and many people are homeless now. New York City has lost so much and has been through a lot which also has decreased the enhanced beauty of the city. Not only houses, business, families, historical places and structures were damaged or destroyed but the city also lost some of their important documents and some of their history which were saved in proper vaults and safe houses. “Opportunities to protect and enhance natural systems through policy are valuable and often fleeting. To assure that environmental concerns are properly and judiciously represented in flood management decisions, individual cases must be assessed from a basin-wide perspective.” (Hickey T and Salas D, 2) THE FLOODZONE NEW YORK CITY Everyone living in the New York City is affected by these drastic floods and flood damages which are caused from the storms or water main breaks. The most common example of these floods is severe rain storms and thunderstorms. One of the reasons of these severe flooding is because of the geographical location of New York City in the map. The city is closest to Atlantic Ocean; therefore, it is easily exposed to the flash, coastal, and tidal flooding as well. “New York City, New York (NYC) is extremely vulnerable to coastal flooding; thus, verification and improvements in storm surge models are needed in order to protect both life and property.” (Colle and Buonaiuto et al. 829) The New England Hurricane of 1938, Hurricane Sandy, and Hurricane Edna were the floods which caused most deaths in the New York City. The New England Hurricane of 1938 The Great Hurricane in the 1938 was considered as the major disaster to strike after centuries. “The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.7 billion in 2013).” (Scotti, 12) Hurricane Edna “Hurricane Edna was a deadly and destructive major hurricane that impacted the United States East Coast in September of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. It was one of two hurricanes to strike Massachusetts in that year, the other being Hurricane Carol.” (Kessler III, 264) It damaged about $48.2 million of property loss (1954 USD) Hurricane Sandy “Hurricane Sandy (unofficially known as "Super storm Sandy") was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the second-costliest hurricane in United States history.” (Plante and Guard, 1) The damage cost about $68 million and 286 fatalities were recorded across seven countries. However, after all these drastic situations and all New York City has been through over the years, it’s management have started planning to make it flood safe in the coming years. It is said that the way New York is in the map of the United States and the World, it is very near to the Atlantic Ocean which itself is a risk. New York resembles to Amsterdam in Netherlands, however they have planned great strategies and have implemented on them as well to keep the city’s location safe. Some of environmental conservationists have proposed that New York follow Amsterdam in protecting its coastline from flooding. COASTAL PROTECTION The coastline of New York is spread on a total of 520 miles on the map. It is longer than the coastlines of Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco when combined altogether. This coastline also borders the ocean and several rivers. However, “As the impacts of climate change accelerate over time, more damage, more flooding, and more erosion are likely in New York, with sea levels continuing to rise and more of the most intense storms expected” (Michael A, 4) It is even said that New York City will be the NEW NEW AMSTERDAM as they want to implement the strategies for the coastal protection. After the time when Hurricane Irene struck the city of New York, the officials and government had to approach the Dutch officials to ask for their advice on flood protections. An agreement was reached and Dutchman expert Jeroen Aerts started to study the coastline of New York and its surroundings and the causes of drastic climate situations etc. When he was only half way through his studies, the mighty Hurricane Sandy hit New York. It was so horrendous that winds extended to 1000 miles which caused the destruction and damage of around $37 million in New Jersey alone and $19 million damage in New York as well. That listed New York the third country (behind Tokyo and Miami) as the most dangerous coastal cities in the world and in the rankings of flood vulnerability as well. Therefore, it was made clear that a lot of work was needed in order to protect the New York City. As Aerts was done studying and proposed his ideas to the officials, the storm and flood protection budget cost $20 billion. About 250 initiatives had to be taken in order to reduce risks of floods and storms, out of which not every Aerts idea was accepted by the city officials. However, before everything, even the Dutchman was horrified by the conditions of the New York City as there were minor flood defenses prepared. The main reason of this was that the United States did not have that excellence in engineering and embankment which Netherlands had. There were a few things which the city officials accepted and rejected. They are listed as follows: WHAT NEW YORK ACCEPTED They agreed to create the buffers by widening and elevating Queens and Staten Island’s beaches. To prevent and avoid erosion, they agreed to create dunes and plant them. They agreed to protect the urban canals by creating and closing the storm barriers. The protection of the major infrastructures such as power, gas, grids, subways etc were guaranteed. They agreed to adjust and encourage the elevation of fuel tanks and telecommunication cables. WHAT NEW YORK REJECTED The officials rejected the large flood barriers which the Netherlands have because they were undoubtedly expensive. However, Aerts concluded that it is considered as the most cost effective measure. Aerts wanted the regional communication to be strong as the storms cross state boundaries and infrastructures. OVERVIEW “The City of Long Beach is subject to flooding from both sides of the barrier island during storms and unusual high tides. The bay front shoreline consists of a mix of residential and commercial property with bulkheads that are discontinuous and variable in elevation.” (City of Long Beach, New York) The main purpose of this paper and report to address, discuss, and analyze the proposed plan that New York follow Amsterdam in protecting its coastline from flooding. When the season of winters emerges, the winter storms have a great impact over this area. The risk of floods and storms striking the city is very high because of the low elevation islands and no large surge barriers. Furthermore, severe rain storms and rainfalls are the reason of flooding in the lower areas because of drainage issues. “New York City plans to be ?ooded. Unlike people living in several cities in Europe and New England, who are protected from coastal ?ooding with storm surge barriers, New Yorkers are promised only ‘‘resilience,’’ the ability to withstand and recover.” (Hill, 1) New York is considered as flood zoned because of its geographical location. Being so near to the Atlantic Ocean, it easily is impacted with little rainfalls. “Overall, an estimated 116,000 New Jersey residents were under mandatory evacuation orders. Flooding near Atlantic City had already extended to waterways inland about 18 miles.” (Trindle and Crittenden et al) However, New York is the city which is heavily dependent on tourism and its economy gets a great boost during holiday seasons. New York City has done so much to protect its coastline as well as the city and guarantee the citizens a peaceful life. They have installed adaptable floodwalls in some regions of the city and neighboring societies as well so that there is minimum risk of floods striking the city. Not only have this but they also implemented the strategies of Amsterdam, Netherlands by constructing the engineered levee floodwall system for Queens and Staten Island’s beaches. In addition, they have increased the flexibility of the grids and fuel tanks etc. They have updated the systems in order to address the climate risks in the city. “The $20 billion proposal is part of a 430-page report that calls for the construction of levees and flood walls along parts of the East River, Staten Island and the Bronx. The mayor said the recommendations would help the city navigate weather crises from heat waves to hurricanes.” ("Mayor Calls for New Neighborhood Built on Landfill") CONCLUSION “There is a need for future flood risk management in the Netherlands to limit the potential flood damage in addition to controlling the probability of flooding.” (Hill and Bowman et al, 111) However, the construction and development of few barriers is unable to adjust according to the sea level. In future, the barriers will be structured flexibly which will allow to adjust with respect to the change in climate. Considering the fact that the New York City has a great impact and it is greatly affected due to climatic condition and drastic weather situations. Climate change situations point out for a combination of the rising sea level of rivers and oceans which can have a profound effect on risk. Furthermore, the extreme flooding in the United States over the past few years or decades have determined the restrictions and limitations of the nonstructural flood control in the country. “New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation budget was cut 5 percent (a loss of $53 million), primarily from the loss of federal stimulus money for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (overall cut of $175 million), as well as a 10 percent cut to the Department of Environmental Conservation’s General State Fund Operations and cuts to capital projects.” (Halle, David, and Andrew A. Beveridge, 441) Works Cited Ahern, Mike, R Sari Kovats, Paul Wilkinson, Roger Few and Franziska Matthies. "Global health impacts of floods: epidemiologic evidence." Epidemiologic reviews, 27. 1 (2005): 36--46. Print. Bloomberg, Michael. A stronger, more resilient New York. n.d. Print. Colle, Brian A, Frank Buonaiuto, Malcolm J Bowman, Robert E Wilson, Roger Flood, Robert Hunter, Alex Mintz and Douglas Hill. "New York City's Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding: Storm Surge Modeling of Past Cyclones." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 89. 6 (2008): 829--841. Print. Hill, Douglas. "New York City Plans to Be Flooded."Journal of Coastal Research, (2013): Print. Kessler III, Edwin. "Eye region of Hurricane Edna, 1954.." Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 15. (1958): 264--270. Print. Trindle, Jamila, Michael Crittenden and Michael Saul. "Sandy Hits Coast, Floods New York." Online.wsj.com, 2013. Web. 22 Nov 2013. Read More