Category Archives: weather

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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Hurricane Sandy Storm Surge Map Animations

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Philip Orton

Hurricane Sandy was a wild beast, with a powerful high pressure system, a hurricane, a nor’easter and a high tide all meeting simultaneously to cause the highest flood in NYC history.  As a result the peak flood height was poorly … 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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Perspectives on NY/NJ Coastal Adaptation to Extreme Flooding Events

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Philip Orton

I’ve been busy trying to finish up a bunch of storm surge related research for the past few months, but occasionally speaking on various scientific panels and other public events.  So, below I’m linking a few of these that people … Continue reading →

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Touring Sandy’s Impact on Lower Manhattan

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Philip Orton

After an interview at Battery Park on Tuesday the day after for ABC News 20/20 Special “The Perfect Storm”, I went on a walk to see the aftermath of Sandy’s visit to lower Manhattan.  My tour took me from Battery … Continue reading →

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Tempest-Tossed, Let’s Not Imitate New Orleans

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Philip Orton

[This opinion piece was published online in the New York Times Room for Debate series on 11/1/12 as part of the debate Should New York Build Sea Gates?  Someone also published an editorial with a similar point to my second paragraph in … Continue reading →

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Sandy We’re in Misery: Storm Recap

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Philip Orton

Now that Sandy has moved on, and some of us are lucky enough to have power and be getting back to “normal life”, I’m finally writing to recap what happened with the coastal flooding and how the forecasts compared to … Continue reading →

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Upcoming Presentation on Surges, Barriers and Coastal Restoration

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Philip Orton

I have an oral presentation at the American Geophysical Union Fall Conference in San Francisco, December 4th, 3:25-3:40 pm.  It is particularly timely, given the destruction left by Sandy and the growing discussions about storm surge barriers.  And similarly, don’t … Continue reading →

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Updated Forecasts from SSWS and ET-Surge

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Philip Orton

Our Stevens Storm Surge Warning System have been predicting flood elevations about a foot below the observations, so take this as a low-end estimate, but here are those predictions.  Also plotted are NOAA’s ET-SURGE predictions, which have a similar estimated peak water … Continue reading →

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