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Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

Atlantic City and Miami Beach: two takes on tackling the rising waters

Author:     Oliver Milman
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Monday 20 March 2017 03.00 EDT
 Link: Atlantic City and Miami Beach: two takes on tackling the rising waters
Stephan:   Donald Trump doesn't believe in climate change, His head of EPA doesn't either, and neither does anyone else in his administration. But for coastal cities such cretinous behavior is not possible. When your sewers are flooding, and your schools and hospitals are awash posturing such as happens at the federal level is not really possible. Mayors and fir chiefs have to actually do something. However, as this report states: "...with no overarching national sea level rise plan and patchy commitment from states, many coastal communities are left to deal with the encroaching seas themselves. Wealthier areas are raising streets and houses, erecting walls and pumps. Those without the funds or political will have several state or federal grants they can access but often make muddled choices in the face of this sisyphean task." Here's how that is playing out in Atlantic City and Miami.

Tom Quirk, a lifelong resident of Atlantic City, stands in a recently flooded area.
Credit: Laurence Mathieu-Leger/ Guardian

The Irish Pub near Atlantic City’s famed boardwalk doesn’t have any locks on the doors as it is open 24 hours a day. So when Hurricane Sandy crunched into what was once known as the Las Vegas of the east coast in 2012, some improvisation was needed.

Regular drinkers helped slot a cork board through the frame of the door, wedging it shut and keeping out the surging seawater. The wild night, which severely damaged more than 320 homes and caused a week-long power blackout, was seen out by those taking shelter with the help of several bottles of Jameson.

But Sandy was just the headline act among increasingly common flooding events that are gnawing away at the thin island upon which the city sits.

“Sandy, as devastating as it was, isn’t the greatest barometer because we have flash floods,” said Cathy Burke, who has run the Irish Pub since 1973. Burke, a gravelly voiced institution along the boardwalk, has […]

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