Flooding – The News Desk

Wildfires, Flooding, Upheavals: Travel in 2023

20Dec

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Travel

Wildfires, Flooding, Upheavals: Travel in 2023

It was a year that was to mark the post-pandemic recovery of travel, bringing economic relief to local communities that had been hit hard by the prolonged loss of tourism revenue. Borders fully reopened, pandemic restrictions were lifted and traveler bookings surged, sparking a social media trend called “revenge travel.” But even as demand in 2023 reached near 2019 levels — with an estimated 975 million tourists traveling internationally between January and September, according to the World Tourism Organization — a series of disasters, upheavals and unparalleled weather events devastated destinations across the globe.Flooding. Wildfires. Heat waves. Blizzards. In the United States alone, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated 23 separate weather disasters, the larg...

Can Seawalls Save Us From Rising Seas and Surging Storms?

5Nov

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Entertainment

Can Seawalls Save Us From Rising Seas and Surging Storms?

Pacifica, California, just south of San Francisco, is the kind of beachfront community that longtime residents compare to Heaven. One of its streets is called Paradise Drive; local fishermen brag that Pacifica Pier is among the state’s best places to catch salmon, striped bass, and crab. Every few years, a superbloom blankets the coast with golden wildflowers. When the sun cuts through the region’s famous fog, the sky sometimes glows, as in a Turner painting.Some of Pacifica’s most dramatic views could be found on Esplanade Drive, where mid-century developers built bungalows on top of a cliff. For almost fifty years, residents gazed out from their back yards to see whales splashing in the Pacific. Then, in 1998, a group of homeowners gathered to say goodbye. “I cannot express how spectacu...

At least one dead in heavy flooding along Hudson River Valley

10Jul

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Health

At least one dead in heavy flooding along Hudson River Valley

Flooding along the Hudson River Valley has claimed at least one life as heavy rains swamped roadways and left thousands without power Sunday.Authorities were alerted to the storm-related drowning shortly after 8 p.m., local officials said.Rep. Pat Ryan confirmed the fatality in a Tweet, which described severe flood damage affecting property across the Hudson Valley.NY State Police are asking motorists to avoid the Palisades Interstate Parkway in response to severe flooding. (New York State Police/New York State Police)Highland Falls, West Point, Cornwall and parts of Rockland and Putnam counties were hardest hit, according to Ryan.Gov. Hochul issued a state of emergency for Orange County in response to what she described as “life-threatening flooding,” urging residents living in affected ...

The “100-year storm” could soon hit every 11 years. Homeowners are already paying the price.

9Jul

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Money

The “100-year storm” could soon hit every 11 years. Homeowners are already paying the price.

The growing threat posed by hurricanes is costing Americans money before even a single drop of rain has fallen. Homeowners in Florida and Louisiana have seen dizzying spikes in their insurance rates over the last two years, and those costs are likely to rise even higher, as reinsurers face growing expenses of their own.This year, more than 7 million homes are at risk of a storm surge from a Category 5 hurricane, while more than 32 million face at least a moderate threat of wind damage, according to CoreLogic. In economic terms, $11.6 trillion of property is at risk, the property data provider calculated, a figure that has jumped 15% from last year due largely to inflation in the price of building materials. "The bigger risk is driven by exposur...