According to experts, this topic will be with us for a while and will continue to cost us billions of dollars. According to a study done by the folks at the World Bank in Washington, the cost of floods to the world’s major coastal cities could be $1 trillion a year by 2050. And 40 percent of that cost will be incurred by just four cities: New Orleans, Miami, New York and Guangzhou, China.
The risks are rising, researchers say, and will continue to do so as global warming produces extreme weather in the form of heat waves, windstorms and rain, which all lead to floods.
Communities should be planning ahead to mitigate these occurrences. Those efforts should include early warning systems, more resilient infrastructure, evacuation planning and more financial support for rebuilding. New York City, for example, is reviewing its building and zoning codes to help in future storms. That will help, but as you’ll read in this issue, it may not be enough.
As experts say, we continue to do the same things over and over, often offering little in the way of mitigation of future storms. As the World Bank noted, New York has already undergone catastrophic flooding this century and the risks are increasing. The same can be said of New Orleans, and that was predicted.
The problem now, experts say, is that flood defense has been designed for past conditions, and continuing the trend will be catastrophic. Even with better protection, losses will increase by 50 percent, according to one of the researchers, Stephane Hallegatte. Another alarming find was that flood risk may be growing in areas that aren’t vulnerable today.
Emergency Management had early access to a report on the long-term rebuilding strategy for the states most affected by Hurricane Sandy. Much of the recommendations echo what has been said here but there are many more, as you’ll see from the article in this issue. Preparing for a warming climate and more extreme storms is key.
You will glean much information too in our feature on rebuilding, both on how some communities have prepared for the future and on some that continue to make the same mistakes over and over — an all too common occurrence.
