Hurricane Ida Remnants Slam Northeast- Bring Flooding, 14 Dead: Talk Climate Crisis, Infrastruc Now?

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Thu Sep 2, 2021, 03:27 PM - Edit history (1)

- Daily Kos, Sept. 2, 2021.



The former Hurricane Ida turned into a tropical depression and then a post-tropical cyclone on its way through the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, but the damage it caused was as devastating as many hurricanes—and pointed directly at the need for policies that combat climate change and upgrade U.S. infrastructure to better handle the outcomes of climate change.

At least 14 people are dead, including a two-year-old and two adults found dead in a basement after a wall collapsed, and floodwaters carried away a 70-year-old man as firefighters tried to rescue him from his car. A record 3.15 inches of rain fell on New York’s Central Park in one hour, breaking the previous record of 1.94 inches—which was set only days earlier. Tornadoes touched down in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey—10 of them in the Philadelphia area. Social media filled with videos of floodwaters rushing into subway stations and apartments and carrying cars.

One of the viral Twitter threads of flooding in the New York area made a critical point:

Link to tweet

People who say that it’s too expensive to address climate change must be forced to answer to the costs of not addressing it. Even if you’re amoral enough to set aside the loss of human life, even if you only care about dollars, look at the damage to infrastructure from Louisiana to Massachusetts. Look at the transit systems forced to restrict services or shut down, preventing people from getting to work. Even if you only care about the crudest, most limited view of “the economy,” climate change is an unfurling disaster imposing enormous costs. According to a White House fact sheet on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal, “In 2020, the United States endured 22 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, costing $95 billion in damages to homes, businesses, and public infrastructure.”

Tell me again how it’s too expensive to prevent $95 billion in damage year after year.

The U.S. needs infrastructure investment both in slowing climate change and in mitigating the effects of the climate change that has already happened. There’s legislation in Congress that would get a start on addressing these problems—but it’s being held up by the House Sabotage Squad and Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. And much, much more is needed, because this is not a problem for the future. It’s a problem for right now. There are so many answers out there, but the political will is lacking. Let’s look at one small, incremental fix that could have prevented some of the damage in New York City Wednesday night while also improving things going forward: green roofs. There are 730 buildings with green roofs in New York City, The Nature Conservancy and Green Roof Researchers Alliance estimated in 2018...

- Read More,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/9/2/2049801/-Ida-s-remnants-bring-flooding-and-deaths-to-the-Northeast-Can-we-talk-about-climate-change-now
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NPR:
- Historic Flooding, Ida New York
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1033513900/historic-flooding-hurricane-ida-new-york

- Climate Change Means More Subway Flooding Worldwide Like New York Experience
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1021185475/climate-change-means-more-subway-flooding-worldwide-like-new-york-just-experienc

[global1]

1. Given The Footage Of The Destruction We Experienced Over The Last Few Days......

it's time for the Dems to really get out there and push to make this infrastructure money go through and be passed in Congress.

After seeing the videos of the flooding and destruction - I really don't know how any Congressman or Senator can be against passing this bill.

The American People are behind this. They want this to happen - because they know the alternative of dealing with calamity after calamity is not acceptable and is more expensive than getting it done.

[appalachiablue]

2. After enduring Sandy in coastal DE, the SE US, Caribbean

after Hugo, Andrew and other hurricanes, and a tornado in DC 20+ years ago.. if this damage and loss of life from Ida doesn't cause change, I don't know what will.

Past time to get to work; we don't have TV but saw more than enough recent damage from Ida online.