Editorial

Now, not later, is the time to reinforce our coast

Posted

In any hurricane, no matter the category, a wall of water surges inland, flooding streets and homes. During Hurricane Sandy, which struck during a full moon on Oct. 29, 2012, many South Shore streets were inundated by six to 12 feet of saltwater.

Water, as we learned, can be a very destructive force.

For five long years, people have talked and talked and talked some more about how we must do something to reinforce our shoreline to hold back the next consequential hurricane. In Sandy’s aftermath, tens of millions of dollars were allocated for local projects like higher bulkheads and check valves, which prevent water from flowing backward through storm drains and onto streets. So far, little to no progress has been made.

So we hold relatively little hope that a project as massive as installing tidal floodgates at Jones and East Rockaway inlets, to stop the surge in a major storm, will be accomplished soon. Still, we must speak up.

As we approach Sandy’s fifth anniversary, now is a good time to revisit a proposal to erect floodgates, which, theoretically at least, would hold back the Atlantic Ocean during a hurricane. Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy has been leading the charge to turn the proposal into reality. The gates have protected places such as Stamford, Conn.; Fairhaven, Mass.; and the Netherlands during major storms, so why not Long Island?

The project would cost an estimated $300 million. The money would have to come from the federal government, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would do the work. Therefore, we would need the support and participation of our local congressional representatives.

Kennedy has already successfully lobbied U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer for $3 million in federal grant money to conduct a three-year feasibility study to determine whether floodgates could, in fact, be built at the two inlets. Construction could take up to six years, so the gates would likely not be installed for another decade.

Given the magnitude of the project, we could use more vocal backing by U.S. Reps. Peter King and Kathleen Rice and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, particularly given the dysfunction that we are seeing in Washington. When President Trump took office nine months ago, he touted a massive infrastructure program to rebuild America. It appears that proposal has been lost in all the chaos roiling the nation’s capital. More than ever, we need our congressional representatives to fight for our best interests in Washington.

If floodgates were constructed on the South Shore, they could stop another major flood during a storm the likes of Sandy, Kennedy said, noting that most of the floodwaters that inundated coastal communities during Sandy came through the Jones and East Rockaway inlets.

Freeport is directly north of Jones Inlet, and the Five Towns are due north of East Rockaway Inlet. Both were hit hard by Sandy’s flooding. In Freeport alone, 3,500 homes were inundated.

Climatologists say it’s critical that coastal communities begin to prepare now for rising sea levels caused by global warming. Predictions are that sea levels could rise 5 percent by the end of the century, which would cause greater flooding than we saw during Sandy.

In the annals of hurricane science, 2017 will surely go down as one of the most historic. In rapid-fire succession, three Category 4 or 5 hurricanes struck parts of the U.S., including Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, leaving millions without water, food and power. Sadly, this hurricane season has lived up to scientists’ predictions that big storms would become more powerful, with significantly greater wind speeds and rain totals, in a warmer world. Hurricanes need warm ocean water to gain strength, and Earth’s greatest warming has occurred in recent years at the poles — and in the oceans.

The Netherlands has spent the past 800 years working to reinforce its coastline against inundation by the ocean. Nearly a third of the nation lies below sea level, and two-thirds of its population lives in that zone. But we don’t see Danes running, quite literally, for the hills because of climate change. Instead, they are creating increasingly innovative models to cope with rising seas, becoming the world’s leader in flood mitigation.

Meanwhile, we talk and argue, talk and argue, hoping and praying that the next Big One won’t strike here. This year — this terrible year — has shown us, however, that we can no longer stick our heads in the white sands of Jones Beach. Let’s think of 2017 as a call to action. Once and for all, let’s make storm protection a top priority.