Category: Flooding
Why California’s Water Extremes Are Wilder than Ever — And What We Can Do About It
While alternating between drought and deluge is nothing new for California, climate change is making these swings even more dramatic. New research and new policies will help the state prepare as the boom and bust cycle grows ever wilder.
Picturing Winter on Coyote Creek
In this photo essay, Megan King captures the Coyote Creek watershed swollen with water after winter storms. Last year, she explored something completely different: drought.
Rising Seas Bring the Cryosphere to NYC’s Battery Park City
From New York’s Battery Park City and Staten Island to the Cryosphere, follow sea level rise resilience work in this 13 minute audio story.
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New Flood Protection Standard for the Peninsula
In San Mateo County, new planning guidance may help cities account for rising seas when approving new developments. OneShoreline’s proposals are stricter than current requirements from federal, state, and local agencies, but those are also evolving. “The intent is to go where we already see regulators are going,” says Makena Wong, a project manager.
Why California’s Water Extremes Are Wilder than Ever — And What We Can Do About It
While alternating between drought and deluge is nothing new for California, climate change is making these swings even more dramatic. New research and new policies will help the state prepare as the boom and bust cycle grows ever wilder.
Picturing Winter on Coyote Creek
In this photo essay, Megan King captures the Coyote Creek watershed swollen with water after winter storms. Last year, she explored something completely different: drought.
Rising Seas Bring the Cryosphere to NYC’s Battery Park City
From New York’s Battery Park City and Staten Island to the Cryosphere, follow sea level rise resilience work in this 13 minute audio story.
How Far Can Metro Harbors Go on Nature-Based Shore Protection?
Typical flood protections rely on engineered structures. But there’s a new push at the national level of the US Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize working with nature. Storm surge plans currently underway in New York, Miami and San Francisco highlight a range of nature-based fixes.
New Maps Reveal Bay Area Flood Threat From Below
As Bay Area residents kayaked through flooded streets and bailed out buildings during California’s recent storms, they faced not only bursting creeks and pouring rain but also rising groundwater.
More Chances for San Rafael Canal Communities to Be Heard
In November 2022 San Rafael launched a resilience planning project that has community-based organizations playing an active role in decision-making.
Storm Surge Resilience Jigsaw Confounds New York
An Army Corps storm surge and flood plan for the New-York-New Jersey waterfront, now going through a public comment period, could be the most far-reaching coastal resilience project the region has seen thus far. The preferred alternative, however, is leaving advocates and community groups questioning if all the pieces will ever fit together.
What Exactly is a Bomb Cyclone Anyway?
It’s hard for me to imagine a scarier name for weather than bomb cyclone — the kind of California experienced on January 4, 2023 — and in the days leading up to the storm, the media frenzy amped up my fears even more. Next, PG&E and my internet provider warned me of service outages. Then, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency.
Two Towns Shortlisted for FEMA Millions
Grimes and Belvedere were the only two northern California towns that FEMA shortlisted this year for flood prevention funding. But flood protection is often more easily planned than done.
Mapping Those Most At Risk
With NOAA’s recent update to their Billion Dollar Disaster Map, urban planners and citizens can see for themselves how disaster risk and vulnerability vary at the much finer “census tract” scale.
Overhauling Insurance for the New Normal
In the era of global warming, an invisible force, as primal as atmospheric chemistry, is coming to bear on human pocketbooks. Even if you don’t believe in climate change, insurance companies do.