Holding Back Floodwater with a Balloon

This is image of the balloon engineers are developing as protection for subway tunnels and underground highways

Scientists are working to develop a new type of protection for subway tunnels and underground highways.

This new mitigation strategy is a rather simple idea, rather than retrofitting tunnels with metal floodgates or other expensive structures, the project aims to use a relatively cheap inflatable plug to hold back floodwaters. In theory, it would be like blowing up a balloon inside a tube. But in practice, developing a plug that is strong, durable, quick to install and foolproof to deploy is a difficult engineering task, one made even more challenging because of the pliable, relatively lightweight materials required. “Water is heavy, there’s a lot of pressure,” said Greg Holter, an engineer with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who helps manage the project. “So it’s not as simple as just inflating and filling the space. The plug has to be able to withstand the pressure of the water behind it.”

This is an example diagram of what the balloon is made out of and how it will work

This device will help guard tunnels during real disasters whether it be a terrorist attack or a storm like Hurricane Sandy.

This new device is an example of the engineering paradigm, whose approach is focused on protection strategies, like making all built structures sufficiently strong to withstand a direct hazard confrontation.

Article Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/science/creating-a-balloonlike-plug-to-hold-back-floodwaters.html?ref=science
Image Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/20/science/1120-plug.html?ref=science

 

Hurricane Sandy Damage Amplified by Development of Coast

This article discusses the devastation Hurricane Sandy had New York and New Jersey. It also discusses how the scale of the storm could have been lessened if proper planning and zoning had been enforced
Given the size and power of the storm, much of the damage from the surge was inevitable, but not all of it. Some of the damage along low-lying coastal areas was the result of years of poor land-use decisions and the more immediate neglect of emergency preparationson coastal areas and barrier islands. Authorities in New York and New Jersey simply allowed heavy development of at-risk coastal areas.
On Staten Island alone, developers built more than 2,700 mostly residential structures in coastal areas at extreme risk of storm surge flooding between 1980 and 2008, with the approval of city planning and zoning authorities. Some of this construction occurred in former marshland along the island's Atlantic-facing south shore. The city allowed development and growth to happen in areas that probably shouldn't have been developed," said Jonathan Peters, a professor of finance at the College of Staten Island. "I think the fact is that you put a lot of people in harm's way with the zoning." Developers built up parts of the Jersey Shore and the Rockaways, a low-lying peninsula in Queens, N.Y., in similar fashion in recent years, with little effort by local or state officials to mitigate the risk posed by hurricanes.

This article does a good job at explaining how the intensity of the development along the coast clearly influenced the scale of the disaster.

Article and Image Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/hurricane-sandy-damage_n_2114525.html

 

Cuba's Recovery After Hurricane Sandy

As Manhattan begins to recover after hurricane Sandy with subways up and running and lights shining down on the city Cuba continues to struggle with getting power restored. On October 25, 2012 Hurricane Sandy swept through Cuba as a Category 2 hurricane. At this time, November 5, 2012, only 28 percent of the city of Santiago’s electricity grid has been restored. Although they have crews working around the clock to restore energy to homes and businesses it is estimated that electricity won’t be fully restored until November 15. Although both Cuba and New York have high population densities causing them both to be vulnerable to storms Cuba is LDC whereas New York is MDC making recovery from the storm easier for New York. New York is receiving extremely high volumes of media coverage which makes receiving aid easier compared to Cuba who isn’t receiving as much media coverage and is recovering much slower than New York. Cuba also sustained major losses of coffee and other crops which will make long term economic recovery a struggle. More than 200,000 homes and 129 schools were destroyed leaving many without homes and children having to attend school in private homes. This will cause the reconstruction period to be long term. It will also, more than likely, create an indirect gain of jobs.

 

This is an image of residents in Santiago, Cuba walking through the rubble left from Hurricane Sandy on October 26, 2012

Article Source: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/05/hurricane-sandy-cuba-continues-to-struggle-with-power-outages/

Image Source: http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/15/73/51/3652213/3/628x471.jpg

Hurricane Sandy Hits New York

Residents located on the east coast the United States are experiencing the wrath of post-disaster effects caused by hurricane Sandy. This densely populated metropolitan region, especially that of New York City, is experiencing an extremely high volume of media coverage as residents begin a massive clean-up effort due to hurricane Sandy.  At this point many businesses and homes are still without any power or modes of transportation.  Sandy caused more than 8.2 million households, where nearly 2 million of them were located in New York, in as many as 17 states to be powerless. It also left 7 seven subway tunnels and streets between Manhattan and Brooklyn to be underwater. Massive transit of more than 8.3 million busses, subways, and local railways were shut down leaving many who rely on city transportation stuck. Sandy also caused more than 18,000 flights to be cancelled. HIS Global Insight in estimating that the storm left around $20 million in damages and about $10-$30 billion in business loss. Sandy was also the cause for the New York stock Exchange to be closed, this is the first time this has happened since 1888.

These area images showing flooding of streets and subways in New York due to Hurricane Sandy

Sandy couldn’t have come at a more controversial time. Sandy hit just a week before the Nov. 6, 2012 presidential election leaving President Obama and his opposing candidate Mitt Romney forced to cancel campaigning in order to assist in relief efforts. Response from President Obama was especially imperative at this time to prove to the country he’s on top on government aid and disaster relief. Obama issue federal emergency orders for both New York and New Jersey, declaring “major disasters” existed in both states.

These images show destruction the that overtook New York in regards to Hurricane Sandy

Since the disaster has left many without power, transportation, or even a place to live it getting to the polls to vote Tuesday could be difficult for many, especially those who are most vulnerable which include the elderly, the low-income class, and the poor. This effect will without a dought have an impact on voting outcome.

Article Source: http://t.news.msn.com/us/sandys-us-toll-climbs-to-50-82-million-without-power
Image Sources: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/1030-sandy-new-york-city/14175113-1-eng-US/1030-sandy-new-york-city_full_600.jpg
http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/509139d1eab8eaac1d000006-800-534/new-york-hurricane-sandy-flooding-subway.jpg
http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/gal-hurricane-sandy-01.jpg?w=720
http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/1030-hurricane-sandy-aftermath-flooding-rain/14176087-1-eng-US/1030-HURRICANE-SANDY-AFTERMATH-FLOODING-RAIN_full_600.jpg

 

 

Surfing Sandy

An image of recreational dare devils surfing waves on Lake Michigan due to high winds caused by Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy brought some unexpected media coverage to Lake Michigan Tuesday October 30, 2012. Jim Hoop, a 50-year old real estate agent and former lifeguard, takes every opportunity given him to surf waves on Lake Michigan. Waves with surfing potential like the 20-foot waves caused by 54 mph winds on Tuesday only happen about once a year on Lake Michigan, and are normally caused by winter storms. These waves were caused by an unusual scenario, they were the outcome of hurricane Sandy who was more than 600 miles away on the east coast. Wind and waves were so extreme in this area they caused 1,000 foot freighters with loads of iron ore, coal, and other bulk commodities to take refuge in the harbors to escape the storms wrath.

This image shows waves that got as high as 20 feet on Lake Michigan due to Hurricane Sandy

When we think about this scenario in terms of risk assessment we can consider Jim’s actions of surfing the 20-foot waves as a voluntary risk, he was aware of the danger he was putting himself in and did it anyways. We can also calculate the risk, risk = hazards * element at risk * vulnerability, here the hazard would be the high waves, the element at risk would be Jim and the vulnerability would be him placing himself in the way of the dangerous waves.

Despite his Knievel like ways Jim came out of the lake safe and will more than likely continue to ride waves on Lake Michigan in the future.

Article Source: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/248281/group/News/

Image Sources: http://kmsp.images.worldnow.com/images/19941289_BG1.jpg
http://media.mlive.com/kzgazette_impact/photo/11777052-large.jpg