After Ida's Fury, Infrastructure Key in Preventing Misery
The destruction left by the remnants of Hurricane Ida have officials and experts agreeing that infrastructure in New York and New Jersey must be quickly improved
By Lisa Rathke and Michael R. Sisak ••
NBC Universal, Inc.
Paterson homeowners find devastation after returning home for the first time after flooding from Ida recedes. NBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.
Deadly flooding delivered to the Northeast by the torrential rains of what remained of Hurricane Ida has brought a new urgency and a fresh look to how roads, sewers, bridges and other infrastructure must be improved to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again.
The world is changing and “our whole mindset, the playbook that we use,” must change too, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday as he toured Mullica Hills, New Jersey, where a 150-mph (241 kph) tornado splintered homes. “We have got to leap forward and get out ahead of this.”
The devastation exposed flaws in preparation plans even after New Jersey and New York spent billions of dollars to prevent a reoccurrence of Superstorm Sandy’s destruction in 2012, with much spent to protect coastal communities.
“Flash floods are now coming. It’s not waves off the ocean or the sound,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said soon after last week’s storm swept through.
Hochul and Murphy, both Democrats, agreed that the increasing frequency and intensity of storms demand a new approach that factors in flash floods.
First, came the water. Then, homes in Manville, New Jersey, caught fire. Gaby Acevedo reports.
The storm dumped so much rain so fast that a record 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) fell in an hour in New York Wednesday, overwhelming drainage systems.Some lives were lost when water flooded basement apartments, subway stations and vehicles. At least 50 people died in five northeastern states.
“I don’t think many people could have predicted the severity of the loss of life and damage done by the flash rains,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University. “People drowning in their basement apartments, in cars and so on is not something we typically would ever see in New York.”
Hochul promised new answers to pressing questions, like whether warnings were clear enough and communications with the weather service were flawed as well as if subways needed a faster shutdown.
The effects of climate change are “happening right now,” Hochul said. “It is not a future threat.”
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Shoes dry on the roof of a car, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 in the Queens borough of New York. The area was flooded Wednesday as rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida sent the New York City area into a state of emergency. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Nelis Gramao dries out her family’s photo album while cleaning out her flood damaged home, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in Mamaroneck, N.Y. More than three days after the hurricane blew ashore in Louisiana, Ida’s rainy remains hit the Northeast with stunning fury on Wednesday and Thursday, submerging cars, swamping subway stations and basement apartments and drowning scores of people in five states. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Residents of flood damaged homes speak to a representative, left, from the New York State Dept. of State as he does rapid damage assessments on behalf of the Village of Mamaroneck, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in Mamaroneck, N.Y. More than three days after the hurricane blew ashore in Louisiana, Ida’s rainy remains hit the Northeast with stunning fury on Wednesday and Thursday, submerging cars, swamping subway stations and basement apartments and drowning scores of people in five states. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
Debris is removed from the basement of Goldberg’s Famous Deli in Millburn, N.J., Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, after the shop as flooded by the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Flood-stricken families and business owners across the Northeast are hauling waterlogged belongings to the curb and scraping away noxious mud as cleanup from Ida moves into high gear. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
Volunteers, employees and family members remove water and mud from Goldberg’s Famous Deli in Millburn, N.J., Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, after the shop as flooded by the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Flood-stricken families and business owners across the Northeast are hauling waterlogged belongings to the curb and scraping away noxious mud as cleanup from Ida moves into high gear. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
NEW YORK CITY – SEPTEMBER 03: A person sorts through belongings from their flooded home in a Queens neighborhood that saw massive flooding and numerous deaths following a night of heavy wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 03, 2021 in New York City. Over 40 people were killed on the East Coast by tornadoes and flash floods did heavy damage to parts of New York and New Jersey as the evening storm caught many off guard with the severity of its rain, wind and flooding. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
Volunteers, employees and family members move water and mud to the sidewalk from Goldberg’s Famous Deli in Millburn, N.J., Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, after the shop was flooded by the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Flood-stricken families and business owners across the Northeast are hauling waterlogged belongings to the curb and scraping away noxious mud as cleanup from Ida moves into high gear. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
Josh Herrera places destroyed items on the lawn of his Millburn, N.J. home Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in the wake of flash flooding as the remnants of Hurricane Ida struck Wednesday. Herrera, after seeing the water start rising from street sewer grates at a rapid pace, eventually, with his wife and children, waded waist deep to escape the residence. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Business owner put out water logged equipment as Village of Mamaroneck workers use a front loader to remove water logged items from the sidewalk after remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated the community, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Mamaroneck, N.Y. More than four days after the hurricane blew ashore in Louisiana, Ida’s rainy remains hit the Northeast with stunning fury on Wednesday and Thursday, submerging cars, swamping subway stations and basement apartments and drowning scores of people in five states. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Getty Images
QUEENS, NY – September 3: Alexandra Landazuri mops the floor after heavy rains from storm Ida caused flooding in Queens, New York on September 3, 2021. (Photo by Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
NEW YORK CITY – SEPTEMBER 03: A person cleans up their flooded home in a Queens neighborhood that saw massive flooding and numerous deaths following a night of heavy wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 03, 2021 in New York City. Over 40 people were killed on the East Coast by tornadoes and flash floods did heavy damage to parts of New York and New Jersey as the evening storm caught many off guard with the severity of its rain, wind and flooding. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Workers at the Westchester Italian Bakery continue the clean up of their store front after flash floods from the remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated the neighborhood, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Mamaroneck, N.Y. More than four days after the hurricane blew ashore in Louisiana, Ida’s rainy remains hit the Northeast with stunning fury on Wednesday and Thursday, submerging cars, swamping subway stations and basement apartments and drowning scores of people in five states. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
NEW YORK CITY – SEPTEMBER 03: A flooded basement level apartment stands in a Queens neighborhood that saw massive flooding and numerous deaths following a night of heavy wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 03, 2021 in New York City. Over 40 people were killed on the East Coast by tornadoes and flash floods did heavy damage to parts of New York and New Jersey as the evening storm caught many off guard with the severity of its rain, wind and flooding. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Warnings of worsening storm damage are not new.
In August 2011, the aftermath of Hurricane Irene killed six in Vermont, left thousands homeless, and damaged or destroyed over 200 bridges and 500 miles of highway. Of the state’s 251 towns, 225 had infrastructure damage. Thirteen communities were severed from the outside world after flooding washed out roads, electricity and telephone communication. National Guard helicopters ferried supplies to stranded residents for days.
More than half a billion dollars was spent by the state and federal governments, and in donations by private individuals, to help Vermont recover.
To weaken effects of future storms, New York and other areas can learn from other cities like Singapore, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, where solutions included turning asphalt parking lots and schoolyards into spaces that can retain water, said Amy Chester, managing director for the nonprofit Rebuild by Design.
“Climate change is expensive. We’re going to have to spend money on it and every single dollar we spend in any type of infrastructure needs to take into consideration the future,” she said.
Redlener, the disaster preparedness expert, said New York City and other communities need to rethink warning systems and consider reengineering drainage, electrical and storm warning systems.
He noted that the city's aging subway system has long been relied upon to absorb excess water from heavy rains, but that was before record rainfalls set off unprecedented flooding.
“That can’t work because there’s people in the subways and we have to think about their safety also,” he said.
And he said the future of New York City's basement apartments, which could number in the thousands, must be reconsidered.
"What are we going to do for them now and what are we gonna do for people in the future? Are we going to even permit people legally to live in basement apartments, and if not, do we have the capacity and the resources to have other alternatives? I don’t know that we do,” he said.
After Ida brought the region to a virtual standstill, transit is starting to come back online. Jessica Cunnington reports.
The system for warning people in areas threatened must be rethought and plans should be in place for what people should do and where they should go, he said.
Linda Shi, an assistant professor in the department of city and regional planning at Cornell University, said there are limits to what infrastructure improvements such as larger storm pipes and road elevation can bring.
She said most planners agree the strategies only buy time.
If the worsening storm trends continue, she said, ultimately there will be increased conversations about “managed retreat.”
"If you want to make space for water, that means making space for water by moving people out of those places,” Shi said.
