“They call you in plenty of time,” she said. Pamela Pettyjohn, whose home in Coney Island was flooded during Sandy, strongly suggests signing up for Notify NYC, the city’s official emergency alert system. “Even if it’s a voluntary evacuation notice, I think people should use that and say, ‘You know what, it’s time to go pack up.’ Let’s get the cats and the dogs and the birds … and let’s go to grandma’s five miles inland.”Īnd if you need to use a city-run evacuation center, it’s worth noting: You can bring your pets there, too, according to the OEM. “If any type of storm is coming in and they’re predicting a pretty severe tidal surge, get out,” he said. They were ultimately safe, but he wishes they had left. He, his wife and their two kids stayed during the storm and the water filled their entire first floor that night, reaching up to “two inches below the subfloor” of his second story, he said. Hurricane Sandy carried tons of sand over the Boardwalk in Coney Island and Brighton Beach, Nov. In Hamilton Beach, a coastal community in southern Queens, Roger Gendron says he won’t ever think twice about evacuating after living through Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Just because your home may normally have a minimal flood risk - according to insurance-based maps - doesn’t mean you won’t have to evacuate. There are six evacuation zones in the city, with zone 1 being the most likely to flood.īear in mind: the evacuation zones are drawn differently than flood risk maps designed for insurance purposes, which you can find with this look-up tool from FloodHelpNY from the Center for NYC Neighborhoods.Īnd evacuation orders, if the city issues them, are “based on the characteristics of an actual storm as it is approaching the city,” OEM says, not generic flood risk maps. If a storm is coming, know whether you need to leave or stay put.įind out if you’re in an evacuation zone with the Office of Emergency Management’s “Know Your Zone” address lookup tool here. Here are some of the storm prep basics from the city - and New Yorkers who learned the hard way when Sandy hit ten years ago. But there are concrete steps New Yorkers can take to be better prepared before extreme weather arrives in our coastal city. Between downpours of rainwater and storm surges from the ocean - like with Superstorm Sandy in 2012 - the potential for flooding both near the coasts and further inland is high in the city.Ībsent comprehensive city planning, there’s only so much any lone individual can do once the water is rising. “As the city looks to fund physical improvements, looking at the geographic implications and looking at the vulnerabilities where upgrades haven’t been made will certainly figure into the city strategy and should.”Īs New York saw most recently with Ida, flooding from heavy rain can be both destructive and deadly. “The maps are one step in what’s really a long-term, multi-pronged process to create stronger climate resilience in the city,” Imas said. Karen Imas, vice president of programs for the Waterfront Alliance, called the maps a “powerful resource for individual property owners, building owners and tenants,” that can help them understand their risks - immediately and in the long run - and encourage them to make a game plan ahead of time. “The design and construction of large infrastructure projects to manage our changing climate will take time to complete and Rainfall Ready NYC is meant to outline the shared actions that can be taken in the short-term to ensure public safety,” said DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala in a statement provided to THE CITY after publication. This approach, emphasizing personal responsibility, marks a slight shift from the de Blasio-era New Normal plan, which laid out a series of commitments from city agencies to protect and prepare New Yorkers for the next storms. Ida-Deluged NYC Drainage System All But Forgotten in Climate Battle.Mayor’s Map Showed Most of Ida’s Victims Lived Where Rainfall Was Riskiest.
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