11 Years After Hurricane Sandy, Plan to Build Storm Barriers Around NYC Faces Pushback
Eleven years after hurricane Sandy killed 43 New Yorkers and caused $19 billion in damages, plans to barricade the city from coastal storms—with over 82 miles of flood protection measures—have yet to leave the drawing board.
Environmentalists say the plan to protect the city from flooding using walls and gates fails to address other climate change-related threats, like heavy rainfall. A decision on whether they will move forward with the proposal or start from scratch was due in July, but the Army Corps announced last month that it would be “delayed until later this fall,” with no specific deadline.
“Our biggest concern is that this project is not a multiple climate hazard project. It is not accounting for sea level rise or any of the flooding brought on by the heavy rains that we have seen recently,” said Tyler Taba, senior manager for climate policy at the Waterfront Alliance, one of the environmental groups pushing back.
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