Status: 02.08.2021 3 p.m.
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After the hurricane “Sandy”, New York actually wanted to arm itself better against flooding. But the construction work for this is still not finished. Some parts of the city feel left behind when it comes to help.
By Marc Steinhäuser, ARD-Studio New York
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Construction workers on the beach in New York City are bulldozing the shore these days with heavy equipment. They pour tons of stones, build new groynes and a raised beach promenade. The excavators are supposed to save New York from extinction – and specifically protect the beach villas and the chic apartments in the western part of the Rockaway Peninsula.
Marc Steinhäuser
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The construction work this summer goes back to the American coastal protection program, which was decided after the disaster caused by hurricane “Sandy”. Nine years ago, “Sandy” flooded and destroyed thousands of homes on the US east coast. 44 New Yorkers lost their lives at the time, and many others lived without electricity for weeks. But the reconstruction and new construction of protective walls is slow – if at all.
Some parts of the city are still lacking flood protection
Actually, the entire coastline of the Rockaway Peninsula is threatened by the consequences of climate change. But not all residents get the same protection, says councilor Sonia Moise. From their point of view, the reconstruction is exacerbating the social problems of some parts of the city. Where people with less incomes live, “climate change is handled very differently,” criticizes Moise.
Sonia Moise fights for fairer protection against floods.
Image: WDR / ARD
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Although the main beach on the peninsula is currently being carefully secured, there is still no flood protection to the bay. “For example, we pay more for flood insurance,” says Moise. To this day she is fighting with a citizens’ initiative to ensure that the other parts of the peninsula are also protected. “It’s absurd because nothing has happened to this day,” she says.
3000 new houses – and long waiting times
The city of New York has had around 3,000 houses repaired or built on stilts since hurricane “Sandy”. However, because some areas are at high risk of flooding, not all homeowners have received the subsidies. Some properties on the Rockaway Peninsula are therefore neglected, and houses there are neither protected nor repaired to this day.
Flood protection in the USA
Marc Steinhäuser, Weltspiegel, August 1st, 2021
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The city of New York justifies its approach, sees all parts of the city well protected. Luis Mendes, who is responsible for the reconstruction program in New York, also sees the homeowners as having an obligation. Some simply have no claim to support because their house has been “illegally built”. However, the city wants to accelerate the processing of future flood protection programs.
Flood protection by clearing trees?
In Manhattan, too, flood protection is still a long time coming nine years after “Sandy”. Construction work on the East River only recently started. The construction company Arcadis, commissioned by the city, does not want to lose any more time after years of planning: Mobile flood protection walls are to protect tunnels and streets, the bank around Manhattan is being increased bit by bit. But the price is high: in East River Park, up to 1,000 trees will soon be felled – which angered many residents.
Flood protection by clearing trees? It makes perfect sense for the construction company in charge: “Trees are vital and come back there,” promises Edgar Westerhof, US director for flood management at Arcadis. But you have to raise the bank so that the people of Manhattan are protected against climate change and flooding in the long term. “It’s something we all have to get used to,” says Westerhof.
In the districts on New York’s coast, several citizens’ groups are continuing to fight for better flood protection. “They always say that a lot has been done since Sandy,” says councilor Moise. “We’re still waiting for that to really happen.”
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