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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline OCTOBER 11, 2024 | The Indian Eye 22

More Frequent and Heavy Downpours in

NYC due to Climate Change: City Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP) outlines Measures

OUR BUREAU

New York, NY
N ew York City Department of
Protection
Environmental
(DEP) Commissioner Rohit
Aggarwala and the Mayor’s Office
of Ethnic and Community Media
hosted a virtual media roundtable on
hurricane and flood prevention. The
city experienced some of the severest
storms in the last few years. There
was Henri in August 2021, which
brought 1.94 inches in an hour; and
Ida in September 2021 bringing 3.15
inches in an hour. Due to climate
change, NYC is experiencing more
frequent heavy downpours that the
sewers were not designed to handle.
NOAA (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration) has
reclassified NYC as a “humid sub-
tropical” climate. Sudden, powerful
storms are bringing more intense
rainfall to New York City.
The effects of these storms can
be made worse in coastal areas by
sea level rise and tidal cycles. Flood-
ing could be 3 types - Stormwater, from manholes, catch basins, and program preserves natural drainage million to install 500 across all five
coastal flooding, and Groundwater. basement sewer connections or over- corridors like streams, ponds and boroughs.
Sewers work in every rainstorm and flows into local waterways. wetlands and enhances them to con- In 2022, DEP increased the
protect fully against 98% of rain Hurricanes are powerful storms vey, store and filter stormwater. DEP amount of stormwater, new and re-
events. that draw their energy from warm manages 545 acres of bluebelts and developed properties must manage
tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean. natural areas in the Bronx, Staten Is- on-site. The rule prioritizes the use
In the roundtable, it was told Hurricanes bring high winds that can land, and Queens. DEP is working to of green infrastructure, which has
create a “storm surge” – when the
the added benefits of reducing the
bring bluebelts to all five boroughs.
that the sewer network is gener- winds push sea level higher and over Green infrastructure (GI) ab- heat island effect and supporting
ally built to handle 1.5 to 1.75 the coastline, causing flooding. sorbs water into the ground in areas wildlife habitat.
Hurricane Season is from June with good soil. It also greens neigh- So far in 2024, DEP has given
inches of rain per hour. During through November but typically be- borhoods, reducing the urban heat away nearly 5,500 free rain barrels
rainstorms, the system can get gins in August in NYC. The 2024 island effect. Porous pavement is a to New Yorkers in partnership with
Hurricane Season is expected to special roadway paving designed to local elected officials. DEP spends
overwhelmed when the amount bring a high number of powerful absorb and drain rainwater. areas. roughly $18M a year to degrease
of water produced by the storm storms to the Atlantic coastline be- Over three miles of porous pave- sewers, deal with damage from back-
cause of higher ocean temperatures ment have been installed as of 2023. ups, and repair equipment trashed
is greater than the capacity of caused by climate change. 10 more miles in the Bronx and an- by wet wipes.
the pipes. DEP is using a multi-layered other 35 miles in Brooklyn are being The National Flood Insurance
approach that strategically uses grey added. Program (NFIP) is a federal pro-
infrastructure, green infrastructure, Cloudburst infrastructure cap- gram run by the Federal Emergen-
60% of New York City has com- and other flooding solutions. It in- tures and holds rainwater from heavy cy Management Agency (FEMA).
bined sewers that carry wastewater cludes Grey Infrastructure, Green downpours that drop a lot of rain in Flood insurance through the NFIP
from the homes and stormwater from Infrastructure , Blue Infrastructure, a short amount of time. Sensors de- is available for homeowners, renters,
rains. During rainstorms, the sewer Regulation, and Real-time Monitor- tect and monitor street flooding in and businesses.
system can get overwhelmed when ing. real-time and relay life-saving in- Flood insurance may be required
the amount of water produced by the Bluebelts divert rainfall away formation to City agencies. NYC’s for some homes and businesses in
storm is greater than the capacity of from sewers, provide retention and first flood-monitoring network is set the floodplain, but all New Yorkers
the pipes. This can result in back-ups create rich ecological areas. The to expand — DEP is spending $7.2 are eligible for NFIP.

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