Sunday Times 2
Flooded New York plans to tame the sea
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Water fills the Bowling Green subway station in Battery Park,New York (AFP)
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) – When Jeroen Aerts, a Dutchman tasked with crafting a plan to defend New York City from flooding, first looked at its coastline seven years ago, he was taken aback by how vulnerable it was.
New York state and city officials have started talking about the need for a comprehensive flood defence system, but many obstacles remain. According to Aerts’ top estimate, it could cost as much as $29 billion to build and implement. The question of who will pay for it remains unresolved.
To many New Yorkers, Sandy’s destruction came as a shock. But to scientists, engineers, environmentalists and public officials, this was a tragedy waiting to happen. A 2007 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked greater New York second among the world’s large port cities most exposed to coastal flooding based on the value of their property.
“People have said for many years – specifically since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans – that New York City was prone to such a super storm,” New York City Comptroller John Liu said on Thursday. Still it took Hurricane Irene in August last year for the
city to seriously start exploring a flood plan, according to Aerts, who said the city asked him to develop a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis for a flood strategy. After Sandy, the momentum behind such a plan is set to build. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, said this week that infrastructure will need to be re-examined and reinforced. But it is not clear how New York will pay for it, and it may well take an act of Congress to prevent the next act of God from bringing the world’s financial centre to its knees again.
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