Nate Monroe: Flood study should include areas that actually … uh, flood
One would be wrong, of course.
As it stands now,
That oversight stems from the simple fact that the working group is using a coastal-hazards map that was created using incomplete assumptions -- assumptions that don't capture the scope of inland flooding possible for parts of the city along the
Fortunately, this group -- I won't repeat its full, jargony name again -- has a chance to make it right, and its members seem open to correcting this problem.
In a presentation Monday,
The working group has been charged with evaluating the impact of 2 feet of sea-level rise by 2060. It won't do any good to limit that to the coast. The
Olsen points out that the
So it'll fall to this working group -- which the city was required to set up by state law -- to evaluate the risks and determine what should be done about them.
Here's the big-picture problem:
Olsen, in a white paper distributed to his fellow working group members, believes these problems will become increasingly common and will begin to affect downtown as well.
With 2 feet of sea level rise in a few decades, Olsen said, "it is theoretically possible that many of the existing (city) drainage systems in certain older neighborhoods will fail to operate for much of the year." Does that grab your attention?
WHAT ARE OUR PRIORITIES?
This is pretty alarming stuff, and yet it just doesn't seem to rate high on the list of things city leaders are talking about contributing real resources toward.
As I've noted before, Mayor
Curry may not admit it, but his administration has.
Tucked into the city's application for federal grant money to tear down the functional
Tearing down a functional road already seems like a marginal project for federal taxpayers to chip in on. The federal
SIMPLE SOLUTION
Olsen, the coastal engineer, has proposed that the working group simply expand the boundaries of what is included in its sea-level rise study to include the places that flooded during Hurricane Irma. It's hard to think of any possible objections to this straightforward, logical suggestion. For now, the group is still studying Olsen's work and agreed to consider that. Good.
In addition to Khan's plans, let's not forget whatever takes the place of the
At the bottom of his white paper, Olsen had one more recommendation: The group should agree that "elected officials and the general public need to fully understand the issue(s) and consequences of future flooding vulnerability ..."
Elected officials? Let's not get carried away.
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