Source Entry 2

Danielle Cruz. “NYC Communities Battle Flooding but Not from Coastal Storms.pdf”. Accessed 10/12/2023.

Summary and Representative Quotes
For my second source entry I have chosen an article that was written by Danielle Cruz, who is a graduate school student from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in Fall of 2020. I found this article on the City Tech library resources under CUNY Academic Works. Danielle’s main purpose was to educate the readers about the problem of coastal flooding facing coastal communities in the Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach and Jamaica Bay in NYC. She explained the phenomena of ‘sunny day flooding’ which is when the ocean water rises in the absence of a storm and floods into nearby coastal communities. References were made to residents who stated that on a normal sunny day they could suddenly experience eight inches of water in front of their house or their block which they say is difficult to get used too. The argument was also put forward that the mayor’s office has given little to no attention to the problem of coastal flooding. Instead, she purported that the government has only focused on flooding caused by storm surges. Resident’s way of life in these communities have been completely altered because they experience the extreme coastal flooding in and around their homes at least twice for the month.

Reflection and Rhetoric Analysis
This article written by Danielle Cruz brought to life the problem of coastal flooding in a few New York City communities and the magnitude to which it is affecting people living in these coastal areas. After everyone in the city has dealt with the flooding, the clean-up has happened, the subways resumed service, and everyone is back to work and school, the coastal communities take much longer to return to a normal way of life. The coastal flooding can take up to 48 hours to clear, forcing the residents to miss school and work because the major roads are flooded and impassable. What can be done to prevent extreme flooding in coastal communities? The answer is not clear, but this is their home, and most people don’t have the resources to relocate so they are left at the mercy of the authorities whether government and municipalities to create and enforce a plan to preserve their homes. I mentioned earlier that New York City’s aged sewer system can no longer keep up with the excess water when there is heavy rainfall and there is an even bigger unhygienic problem of stormwater mixed with wastewater gushing true the streets, subways and in and around resident’s properties. This is contaminated flood water that enters homes and buildings which typically causes the problem of mold and bacteria resulting in allergies and asthma, infections, and gastrointestinal illnesses. Some initiatives implemented in the Howard Beach and Hamilton Beach areas was the upgrade of the drainage system which included new storm sewers and catch basins in Brooklyn and Southeast Queens. One noted improvement was the implementation of bioswales which are rain gardens. These are built into sidewalks and are designed to absorb up to 2500 gallons of storm water. The bioswales are about five feet deep and are built using plants that absorb a lot of water as well as use spaces within the soil and stone to hold stormwater. Are these bioswales enough to curb the flooding? Probably no, but it is a great effort to trap the flood water and allow it to slowly drain of. The street raising projects which allow the cars to be above the water during high tide was another initiative that was implemented. But this did not protect the residents and their homes from the storm surges or the high tides completely. Programs like ‘build it back’ after hurricane Sandy was meant to reinforce the homes and make them stormproof but this program failed among some of the reasons for this was poor management and more than half the residences did not qualify for the grants. More homeowners in these coastal regions are being required to have flood insurance for their homes but flood insurance is astronomically expensive. Flood insurance is typically provided by Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) or National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) who charge the residence premiums that is approximately $700 and in NYC the average premiums $1150.00 which is nearly impossible for the household to afford.