Five years ago, on October 29, 2012, New York and the state of New Jersey were devastated by Sandy, a storm of rare violence. The climatic event, as recalled l’Express, had killed more than 40 in New York (70 in all) and cost more than 70 million dollars to the states of New York and New Jersey. But if the reconstruction has been completed, experts point to the fact that the city is still not prepared to face a new episode of this kind.
New York, being located by the sea, is particularly vulnerable to flooding as well as the threat of rising water levels caused by global warming. To respond to this problem, many projects are currently underway. One of the most ambitious, reports Quartz, would be the creation of several underwater doors, which would have the effect of raising New York in the event of a storm.
The National Institute for Coastal and Harbor Infrastructure is currently trying to convince the authorities of the merits of the project. Similar infrastructures are already in place in London and Rotterdam. On its site, the association explains the need to create this system of doors, although expensive (25 million dollars) and indicates that in the case of Sandy, it could have avoided almost all the floods.
One idea to prevent massive NYC flood destruction: A constellation of giant underwater gates that would rise in New York Harbor and beyond when disaster looms. (Diagram shows ‘circle of protection’) Other suggestions include berms in various locations. https://t.co/KxwlQcA7Rz pic.twitter.com/3gVfqiif93
— Ruth Hatch (@25JessieSt) October 29, 2017
If the project has been declared of public interest, it is for the moment only in the design phase, the town hall preferring to focus on more local improvements. But as Quartz notes, the progress of this work is also very slow.
One of them, also ambitious, and named The Big U, aims to install a system of dikes and walls around lower Manhattan Island, with the aim of creating flood protection, as well as improved access to the waterfront. But the construction of the project , divided into two parts, is expected to start only in 2019 and 2020.
However, time is running out. According to a recent study, reported by l’AP, floods of 2.4 meters or more, which normally hit New York once every 500 years, could hit every five years. Added to this is the problem of rising ocean levels linked to global warming. And if nothing is done to reduce CO2 emissions, New York could well end up underwater in 2100, with or without dikes.
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