And vulnerable people are the most likely to be harmed or killed by flood damage. More people die in floodwaters than from any other effect of a hurricane, says Anne Jefferson, a hydrologist at Kent State University. In the meantime, floods will continue to kill. In some cases, he says, the research already suggests how to protect the city against flooding, but getting together the money and political will to act is still a hurdle. And he expects the price tag to be hefty-likely hundreds of billions of dollars. “We need to literally redesign the city to solve the problem,” McPhearson says. Pilot plans in a frequently flooded area in Queens included green infrastructure like floodable park walkways, as well as a basketball court designed to hold water during major flooding.īut carrying out these or any other stormwater management solutions would require major funding, and some would require a decade to engineer. The Cloudburst Resiliency study, completed in 2018, examined strategies to deal with extreme rain events. A forward-looking stormwater resiliency plan released in May 2021 included an assessment of flood risk across the city and proposed solutions ranging from social strategies, like educating local city councils on flood risks, to engineering techniques such as more green roofs and rain gardens.Īnd the city’s Department of Environmental Protection is considering plans for areas that are hit especially hard during the most intense storms. ![]() With the input of researchers like McPhearson, New York City has developed plans to improve its defenses against storm-caused flooding. "We need to literally redesign the city to solve the problem." Timon McPhearson And if enough water runs together, the consequences can be deadly. Impervious surfaces like concrete cause water to rush downhill rather than sink into the ground as it might in grasslands or forests. ![]() “The way we’ve developed New York City has caused the flood problem,” says Timon McPhearson, a researcher in urban climate resiliency at the New School and a member of the New York City Panel on Climate Change. While New York City and other coastal areas are more vulnerable to sea-level rise, any urban area can experience what’s called pluvial flooding, the kind caused by rainfall. Ida dumped inches of water all over the city in a short time-a problem that sea barriers and other coastal protections can’t solve. Sandy caused an intense storm surge, where the ocean rushed into the city. But the difference between the 2012 hurricane and Ida illustrates the complex flood threat the city faces from climate change. Areas of the New York metro region are under flash flood warnings as storms creep into the Northeast and showers are expected to continue throughout the day.Sandy looms large in any discussion about flooding in New York City. Other places in and near the metropolitan area may be put under weather advisories in the coming hours as the storm approaches. Winds are fluctuating between 10 and 15 mph out of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and are expected to stay that way until the early afternoon.īy the late evening, the storm will have left the area, and winds are expected to die down. Robert Mecea The storm began affecting the areas Tuesday morning, but humidity is supposed to drop by Wednesday afternoon. NWS New York NY / Twitter Vehicles drive through a large puddle on the service road of the eastbound LIE near the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens. Flooding is expected today in the NYC metropolitan area. Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, along with parts of New Jersey and Long Island, have already experienced 2 inches of rain overnight, with 1 to 2 more inches expected in the next several hours. Get those umbrellas and rainboots ready for the morning commute.Īreas of the New York metro region are under flash flood warnings as storms creep into the Northeast and showers are expected to continue throughout the day.
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