Storms Surge

As another hurricane season sets in, I’d like to make our coastal readers aware of the fun fact that New Orleans is not alone in being at risk from high water. Whether the increased heavy weather is due to global warming more than natural long cycles is not as important as the fact that flooding the low-lying parts of NYC would cost hundreds of billions of dollars and untold lives.

The map at right shows NYC with an 8 meter rise in sea levels. Impossible you say? You’re sure global warming won’t soon make sea levels rise 8 whole meters, or a whopping 26 feet? Well, remember the storm surge during hurricanes. In New Orleans, the storm surge was easily that high. The main difference is that since N.O. is largely below sea level, the flooding didn’t recede naturally once the levees were breached and the pumps turned off. NYC would drain naturally–though not the basements or the subways or the sewers–and not soon enough to prevent disaster. Businesses would be wiped out, homes, people dislocated, and the financial markets could easily be shut down for weeks or more.

[btw, you can use this cool link to see sea level rises for anywhere covered by Google maps -- not supremely accurate though -- I think it' using building height in addition to raw land, as I'm sure much of downtown NY is only 2-4 meters above sea level.]

The Northeast US is statistically overdue for a hurricane, which was covered nicely in a New Scientist article last week (can’t find an on-line link yet). One group wants to do more research towards building four massive flood barriers at key points, like the Verazzano narrows, near JFK, up in Queens where the Long Island Sound meets the East River, and one to help out our poor friends in low-lying New Jersey (like Matt and Devin in Hoboken, who would be cut off by a mere 3 meter rise — Hoboken used to be an island, you know).

But the cost could be so high that only an actual disaster will spur us to action. Such was the case for other cities, leading to flood barriers on the Thames and throughout Scandinavia. It’s amazing we’ve survived this far. How many people in NYC even realize on a day to day basis that the open ocean is just a few miles away?

In the meantime, I’d suggest a few things you can do for yourselves, beyond the usual flashlights, water, and 3 days of food (which, if you don’t do anyway, you’re nuts — 7-10 days is more like it). Know an evacuation route, especially one that avoids floodable areas. Think about where you’d go and how you’d get there. Keep critical papers, backups (for us writers) in a watertight safe. Have a plan for your pets. Do you leave them with a month of food? (I wouldn’t do so willingly, but we have four cats) Or do you have carriers and supplies ready to go? Keep in mind that if you wind up at a shelter, they may not allow pets.

The hardest thing, I’ve found, is keeping the stuff organized. With all our camping gear, it’s at least in one closet. But being prepared is a pain in the ass.