New York Shuts Down For Hurricane Irene
Talk about eery timing. The current special issue of Scientific American is about cities, and as I type this, Hurricane Irene is making her way up the Atlantic seaboard and is expected to reach New York City by Sunday morning.
I, like nearly everyone else, am refreshing news pages, blog posts, and scanning my Twitter feed for stories and updates about Irene. I am particularly drawn to stories about how New York City is preparing for the storm. According to the New York Times, approximately 370,000 people in New York City are being asked to find higher ground. Another 2 million people in surrounding areas are being asked to do the same.
Besides the people using the hurricane as an excuse to drink wine, Irene is a pretty big dang deal for the Big Apple. How big? The New York subway system has been shut down. Things must be serious!
It’s times like these that we are reminded of the breadth and power of Nature, and that severe weather events like these are likely to be more frequent as the climate continues to change. But we are not completely powerless. We can plan ahead for these events to minimize loss of life and damage to our cities.
According the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, over 53 percent of Americans live within 50 miles of a coastline. So, ensuring that our cities and metro areas are prepared for rising sea levels, storm surges, intense rainfall events, and more is smart public policy.
