Category Archives: security

Southeast Winds and Flooding from Continental Storms

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Philip Orton

A massive extratropical storm over the Midwest will bring strong southeast winds to New York Bight and the potential for widespread coastal flooding this Thursday and Friday. Sustained winds in the New York metro area will peak at 25-35 mph … Continue reading →

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Resilience Concepts Behind Living Breakwaters

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Philip Orton

I was asked by an intern at City Atlas, Travis Gonzales, to answer his well-posed questions on our winning Rebuild By Design entry, Living Breakwaters, and here is that Q&A, which I think gets addresses some important aspects of the concept. … Continue reading →

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Living Growing Breakwaters and Building Community Resilience

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Philip Orton

We had great news a few weeks ago — our team was selected as a winner of the HUD Rebuild By Design competition, and New York State is being awarded $60 million to build out our project — Living, Growing Breakwaters off … Continue reading →

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Winter Coastal Storms – a Dangerous Mix of Hazards

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Philip Orton

The winter storm hitting us right now is a reminder of how coastal flooding and winter storms can mix and bring a dangerous combination of hazards.  While the winds in this storm are substantially weaker (good news) than the Blizzard … Continue reading →

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HUD Rebuild By Design: Plans for the Future Coast

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Philip Orton

I am honored to be part of a well-constructed, diverse-minded team for the HUD (federal Housing and Urban Development) post-Sandy “Rebuild By Design” competition, one of 10 successful teams of about 150 that applied.  The team was built and is … Continue reading →

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Not a Priority: Federal Funding to Improve Flood Forecasting

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Philip Orton

Dear Dr. Orton: Thank you for your submission of the proposal [(censored) title relating to improving our Storm Surge Warning System’s forecasting of storm surges] to the [(censored) federal program]. Although your proposal ranked in the top group and was … Continue reading →

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Sandy’s Staten Island Flooding Deaths: A Man-Made Disaster?

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Philip Orton

Ask people how fast the water came into New York Harbor with Hurricane Sandy, or how fast it rose, and you get a wide range of answers. Many people think it was like a tsunami that came in quickly, with … Continue reading →

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A Penhorn Polder Wildlife Refuge for Hoboken Flood Protection

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Philip Orton

We hear all the time how The Netherlands is a demonstration of how the New York City and New Jersey metro area can adapt to coastal flooding.  But we have very little in common with The Netherlands … they have … Continue reading →

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NYC Storm Surge Evacuation Map PDF

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Philip Orton

The NYC Office of Emergency Management website is bogged down a bit already and warns of possible slowdowns.  Here’s a re-post of the hurricane storm surge flooding evacuation map, to help get it out there.  Mayor Bloomberg plans to make … Continue reading →

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Hurricane Irene: Parallels with 1821?

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Philip Orton

[temporary note:  With Irene approaching our area, I’ll mention that it has shown some weakening instead of strengthening on Friday, so it extremely unlikely to have a similar strength or impact to the Hurricane of 1821.  Check the latest updates … Continue reading →

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