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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline                                             OCTOBER 18, 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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