Could Solar Have Helped NYC After Hurricane Sandy?

Re: Could Solar Have Helped NYC After Hurricane Sandy?

Dump 10' of salt water in a residential area--And there is nothing much that will survive that without a scrape down and rebuild. As peakbagger and ggun say--all the power in the world (or a 2kW genset and lots of fuel) is going to be extension cord time in a building that is (most likely) unsafe and not even worth/possible to repair in any type of short time period. Let alone, needing new appliances to power. And where would people install batteries/generators/fuel/food/emergency supplies--Third floor/attic area? Not a great personal survival solution either.

Outside of the flood zone--The homes/appliances are still usable and power would be a life saver/bringing back normalcy to the situation. And that is probably what is happening anyway to most other folks now.

Enough power/fuel/water/food to last 3-10 days is enough to survive until it is clear what will happen next (more fuel/water/food for another couple weeks for shelter in place; or having to leave for safer locations until the infrastructures of power/goods distribution and up and running again to support large numbers of people again).

And for areas that had more than a foot or four of flooding--Should rebuilding even be an option (a whole 'nother kettle of fish').

In the city I grew up in, we have an area next the the ocean that has flooded to a few feet deep every couple of decades (after every flood--the fixed/upgraded the pumping systems so it would never happen again)... The residential areas and shopping centers remain, but the major AT&T long distance operation did leave (and donated the building/grounds to the city--as I recall). The area flooded is not that large (just an area pretty close to the ocean--the rest of the valley is higher and not subject to flooding by the ocean). The roads and the rest of the infrastructure are not usually badly affected--So even for those affected, they only have to go a few blocks to be back on "dry land".

-Bill

Re: Could Solar Have Helped NYC After Hurricane Sandy?

Combining the laws of unintended consequences and large numbers--I fear that the test/prep will be worse than the actual failures...

300+ million people storing fuel/running generators will probably result in 100's of deaths and thousands of injuries (at least the first few times it is tried).

-Bill

Re: Could Solar Have Helped NYC After Hurricane Sandy?

People do learn to live with flooding (Nov 11th, 2012 article):

Venice 'high water' floods 70% of city
Venetians direct anger at forecasters after 'exceptional and unpredictable' rise in sea waters floods homes and businesses

Tourists attached plastic bags to their legs or stripped off to take a dip in St Mark's Square in Venice on Sunday as rising sea waters surged through the lagoon city. High water measuring 1.49 metres (5ft) above the normal level of the Adriatic sea came with bad weather that swept Italy at the weekend, causing floods in historic cities including Vicenza as well in the region of Tuscany 250 miles further south.
Venice's high water, or "acqua alta", said to be the sixth highest since 1872, flooded 70% of the city and was high enough to make raised wooden platforms for pedestrians float away. The record high water in Venice – 1.94 metres in 1966 – prompted many residents to abandon the city for new lives on the mainland.
...
Bottoni is so used to floods she has installed waterproof furniture and an angled floor. "I cannot keep the water out, but at least I can make sure it goes straight back out when it recedes," she said.
Matteo Secchi, a hotelier and head of a protest group, who grew up in ground floor flat in Venice and recalls splashing into water on getting out of bed, said his hotel was only safe up to 140cm. "This morning the lagoon came right into the hotel entrance, and this is not clean water – you need to mop with disinfectant twice after it goes down," he said. "The British tourists don't complain but the Americans can't understand how it's possible."
...
Alessandro Maggioni, the city's assessor for public works, defended the Venice weather centre, describing the high water as "exceptional and unpredictable". The Moses flood barrier system being built to protect the lagoon, due for completion in 2015, would have kept the city dry, he said. "Meanwhile, there is no rise in the incidence of high waters," he said.
Bottoni disagreed. "My shop now has some form of flooding 100 days a year, up from 30-40 days when I moved in just 10 years ago." But she does not plan to leave. "I was born and raised here and will stay here for the satisfaction of being in Venice."

Venice is subsiding so flooding has increased over the centuries... But there does appear to be a bit o cognitive dissidence going one here.

-Bill

PS: Add link to article with lots of pictures.

By the way--Venice has no sewage treatment--The drains flush to the canals--Avoiding flood waters is a good idea anywhere to avoid communicable diseases and parasites.

-Bill