When Catastrophe Strikes

Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

I’ve started this issue three times. I have two almost-complete drafts waiting — one is part 4 of the grid series, and one is about building codes. Then, three separate starts about Hurricane Helene and the swath of destruction are in my drafts folder.

Other people have written about the importance of community far more eloquently than I. Others have also written about the heartbreak of losing everything, and the years of recovery ahead, and more. Those are important topics and I’m so glad that talented, articulate people are writing and talking about them.

One of the topics that fascinates me when it comes to climate change is adaptability and resilience, and this most recent devastation makes me wonder what could have made it less devastating? What are the most important areas to address to protect people from future violent storms and disasters?

I think this photo was taken at a pull off on the Foothills Parkway. The Appalachian Mountains are beautiful.

Increasing Frequency of Catastrophic Floods

The floods in North Carolina have been described as 1 in 1000 year floods. There’s a technical definition of what a 1 in 100 year flood is and what a 1 in 1000 year flood is, based on statistics and historical data. But I don’t think we should use that particular terminology because it makes people think this is a rare and unusual thing and because historical data is not entirely reliable in the time of climate change.

The fact is that these big, “improbable” storms have been getting more common. This article from WCNC Charlotte explains the whole statistical calculation very well, including the way that such storms tend to cluster in certain areas: “Since 2002, the three US stories that have dropped 1,000-year magnitude rainfall on the largest areas have all hit the Carolinas.”

In the fourth episode of an excellent podcast series called Not Built for This, on how modern cities and neighborhoods aren’t built for climate change, producer Emmett Fitzgerald visits Greinwich Terrace, a neighborhood in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The area flood so often that the state of Louisiana offered to buy the homes of residents so that they could move to less flood prone areas. At one point a resident says, “How are you going to keep telling me it’s a freaking hundred year flood? Well God dang it, we in the last days because a hundred years is coming every six months.”

As always it’s easy to focus on what’s wrong and bad about this situation. That capitalism is going to affect how rebuilding happens and not always (or maybe usually) in good ways. That people who lived in lovely, old farmhouses will be forced to rebuild cheaper, uglier new homes. I’m seeing lots of social media chatter about how the response is not adequate (nothing could be “adequate” in this situation).

But this newsletter is about what’s good, and what’s hopeful. So while those things are concerns and should be considered, this article is about why there’s reason to think (some) things will get better.

Lessons from Katrina

When I started thinking about writing this issue, I wondered what happened after Hurricane Katrina. What changes came about to better protect people?

How New Orleans’ response to Hurricane Katrina improved public safety and economic growth, by Steve Mathias, Global Practice Leader, Coastal Restoration at Stantec, addresses exactly the questions I had. Mathies is from New Orleans, so his stake in the answers is both professional and personal. He touches on how the federal, state, and community responses in the aftermath of Katrina made the city safer and more beautiful.

Federal

“The federal government greatly improved and fortified structural protection around the city, including almost 350 miles of levees, flood walls, and numerous pump stations, while improving navigation structures,” writes Mathies.

If you remember, the levees failing was a big deal. The existing system was 120 years old and designed for a far smaller city. New Orleans is built at the bottom of a natural bowl, with some spots as much as 10 feet below sea level.

During recovery and rebuilding, the systems of pumps and canals were improved. Three new pump stations included new components to reduce the risk of flooding.

State

“The State of Louisiana recognized the importance of its vast coastal landscape and the current and future loss of those wetlands through primarily subsidence and sea level rise. So, they developed a Comprehensive Coastal Master Plan to guide future restoration activities.”

At this point, most people know that developments along our coastlines have destroyed the natural storm barriers that existed. Swamps and wetlands aren’t “useless” and in need of draining as so many developers claimed. They slowed down storms, and prevented the kind of damage we see so often today. Plus, the communities that are built on “recovered” swamplands are particularly vulnerable.

At the mouth of the Mississippi River, the wetlands serve another purpose, which is to spread out the sediment that flows along with the river. Louisiana is restoring the wetlands and their project, called the Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion, will result in the eventual restoration of more than 65,000 acres of wetlands—which will naturally sequester some 24,000 tons of carbon every year!

Communities

“Katrina clearly demonstrated that we needed to reconsider our relationship with water…As part of the Blue and Green Corridors project, we worked with the local community to design projects that both addressed floodwater issues but also resulted in more beautiful and livable neighborhoods.”

One of the problems most urban areas face is stormwater runoff, and one solution is building parks that are also flood storage areas. These areas act like big rain gardens. An important bonus is that neighborhoods have more parks to enjoy.

We Don’t Have to Wait

Whether it’s a managed retreat program like the one in Greinwich Terrace, or restoring more natural barriers like wetlands and parks, or making sure that infrastructure like pumps, levees, and drainage are up to the task in modern cities, we don’t have to wait until disaster strikes. Those changes and improvements can happen before the next flood or hurricane.

In some cases, like in North Carolina right now, no amount of infrastructure would make a difference. When almost three feet of water dumps onto mountains, landslides are going to happen. No modern road can handle more water than flows over Niagara Falls.

But, we can have careful response plans in place, so that people know what’s happening and who is in charge. We can get to know our neighbors, and we can make sure we have basic supplies like a few bottles of water, candles and canned food on hand. And, we can help each other when disasters happen.