New York is clearly on the frontlines when it comes to facing the escalating impacts of climate change. Nearly one year ago, Brooklyn and Queens were devastated with another record-breaking rainstorm that poured nearly nine inches of rain at JFK Airport, shut down subway lines and flooded basement apartments. A “new normal,” some say.
In case you have not already experienced it directly, New York is at the center of the region – and nation, for that matter – when it comes to extreme rainfall.
According to the most recent National Climate Assessment from 2023, the northeast region of the United States has seen the greatest increase in frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events. Adding to this research, New York State released a Climate Assessment in February of this year that found that the Catskills, lower Hudson Valley and New York City are at particularly high levels of vulnerability to extreme rainfall risks.
Across the state, efforts are being made to address the growing risks and impacts from extreme rainfall. This includes improving the performance of sewer systems and addressing its increasing pressure due to a growing population and housing, as well as expanding green
infrastructure to absorb rainwater, cleaning up the surface water drains, implementing innovative engineering solutions and many other actions.
New York City has launched several programs dedicated to mitigating the effects, like the Cloudburst Management program, which got a big boost of nearly $400 million in funding earlier this year. However, in his recent testimony to the New York City Council, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection and Chief Climate Officer, Rohit Aggarwala, indicated that New York City really only started investing in stormwater resilience two-and-a-half years ago, in response to the extreme flooding experienced from Hurricane Ida.
This means that we’re advancing on a few projects, but there’s a long to-do list that…
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