Sandy Alters 'Reality'

[Earth_First]

Two-thirds of all New York City homes damaged by superstorm Sandy were outside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's existing 100-year flood zone, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday, calling for an immediate redrawing of the maps to reflect current conditions.

"The yardstick has changed, and so must we," Mr. Bloomberg said during a breakfast speech in Lower Manhattan. "FEMA is currently in the process of updating their maps, and those maps will guide us in setting new construction requirements."

The FEMA flood map designations play a crucial role in setting building and zoning codes. The designations are also used for insurance purposes, and homeowners seeking mortgages in high-risk zones may be forced to buy federal flood insurance.

Expanding the city's flood zone was among a host of measures the mayor proposed to protect the city from dangerous storms. He said the city would also change its evacuation maps, likely boosting the breadth of Zone A, the low-lying areas that are evacuated first. And he called for better protection for critical infrastructure such as the electricity network and changes to the building code.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324640104578163643710593824.html?mod=WSJ_NY_LEFTTopStories

Alternate headlines:

Hurricane forces reconsideration for climate change deniers
Owning/Renting in NYC to become wildly more expensive.

[dballance]

1. Glad he's being honest and realistic about it. He needs to talk to the NC legislature

The NC legislature actually passed laws forbidding their environmental, their emergency management people - actually any state agency - from acknowledging or discussing rising sea levels. This despite the fact NOAA has reported sea levels off the NC coast are rising at one of the fastest levels in the US.

It just amazes me they're still practicing that old Southern tradition of "If you don't talk about it it will go away." Just like it has been practiced since the beginning of the US. Like with homosexuality, civil rights and those unwanted pregnancies that befell their good Christian daughters when they ignored the reality of teen sex and teaching about contraception.

Keep up the good fight Mr. Bloomberg and get some better infrastructure and building codes for you constituents.