Vulnerability

Reworking New York's Flood Map Post-Hurricane Sandy

Thu, 2013-11-28 22:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The new map could put twice as many homes in the flood zone and raise premiums for many homeowners.

propublica.org - by Al Shaw - June 12, 2013

. . . while Sandy’s water has long receded and the bulldozers have left, a residual effect for homeowners along the city’s coastline still lurks quietly beneath the surface. It comes in the form of a July 2012 law called the Biggert-Waters Act, which will end subsidized rates for property owners who are remapped into more severe flood zones, increasing their flood insurance premiums 20 percent a year until they reach market rates, and will apply those higher rates for newly purchased property.

The potential increases, which proponents say are necessary to sustain the National Flood Insurance Program, are not widely understood by residents, and may be catching them unprepared.

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Biggert-Waters Act - Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

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Tim DeChristopher: 'We Have to Be the Carbon Tax'

Fri, 2013-11-08 22:50 — Gina Angiola

By Peter Rugh, Waging Nonviolence,07 November 13 - Reader Supported News

f you walk along Manhattan's West Side Highway, upon the long strip of bike lanes and greenery between the Hudson River and the droning automobiles, you'll come to a fresh patch of pavement that's a stone's throw away from the Pier 51 Playground. You can't tell by the look of it, but beneath the new asphalt hundreds of millions of cubic feet-worth of natural gas are flowing.

While the national climate movement has focused on the transnational Keystone XL pipeline, this tiny site has been the object of a more-than-two-year local battle over the first natural gas pipeline to enter New York City in 40 years. Objecting to the high radon content of the fracked gas and the risk of explosion this pipeline carries, my friends and I waged a campaign of legal challenges and protests against its operator, Spectra Energy Corporation.

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The Grim Legacy Of Hurricane Sandy One Year Later

Mon, 2013-10-28 14:04 — Kathy Gilbeaux

elitedaily.com - by Christian La Du - October 28, 2013

One year ago, the east coast was ravaged by SuperStorm Sandy, a freak occurrence combining a hurricane, Nor’easter, high tide, and a full moon, which wrought particular destruction on the tri-state area.

Although the enduring legacy of Sandy is not measured in tallies of destruction, numbers like 8.6 million homes and businesses without power, gas and water, 650,000 destroyed houses, 200,000 damaged businesses, and 286 deaths afflicted over 13 states. Approximately 50 million people felt the effects of the storm over 800 mile stretch, and an estimated $65 billion in economic damages were incurred.

The real, lasting effect of Hurricane Sandy, however, is in the radical life shifts that people forcibly underwent.

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The Hard Math of Flood Insurance in a Warming World

Sat, 2013-10-26 23:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A man walks through flooded streets in Hoboken, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy | Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As subsidized rates of federal flood insurance rise, property owners along the coasts get angry. But we need insurance that reflects the risks of a changing planet

time.com - by Bryan Walsh - October 1, 2013

Thousands of homeowners in flood-prone parts of the country are going to be in for a rude awakening. On Oct. 1, new changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which offers government-subsidized policies for households and businesses threatened by floods, mean that businesses in flood zones and homes that have been severely or repeatedly flooded will start going up 25% a year until rates reach levels that would reflect the actual risk from flooding. (Higher rates for second or vacation homes went into effect at the start of 2013.) That means that property owners in flood-prone areas who might have once been paying around $500 a year—rates that were well below what the market would charge, given the threat from flooding—will go up by thousands of dollars over the next decade.

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Canarsie Community <Light our Way to Recovery> October 29, 2013, Canarsie Park 6:30pm

Thu, 2013-10-17 14:09 — debbiefook

Light Our Way To Recovery is a candlelight commemorative gathering of the constituents of the Canarsie community, one of the many disaster impacted communities on the Eastern USA coastline. This event is given in remembrance of those persons who lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Sandy; to honor the people who volunteered and who continue to help; to highlight the need for support for Canarsie disaster victims who continue to struggle to rebuild, recover and survive the emotional maelstrom caused by the life changing events of October 29th 2012.

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Susan's Perspective on Superstorm Sandy

Thu, 2012-11-01 21:34 — mdmcdonald

This e-mail may be more stream of consciousness than anything else but I'll do my best to organize my thoughts. I'll also include video links where I can.

Citizens did not follow the mandatory evacuation order because
- When they evacuated for Irene, they found that the places to which they evacuated were hit hard whereas the homes they left behind were fine.
- Many residents live in highrises and feel that as long as the water doesn't reach their apartment, they'll be safe. They stock up on batteries, food, water, and medication for a few days but not enough to sustain them for over a week without power.
- Folks living in houses figured that if things got really bad, they could flee at the last minute. They did not expect the water to flow in in such a violent fashion nor did they expect the water levels to rise as quickly nor as high as they did. A friend of mine thought she was prepared because parked her car in her driveway facing outward. I haven't been able to speak with her since Monday morning, but my guess is that her car is totaled and possibly has floated away.

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