Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 7 June 2017
Climate change raises new risk: Are inland bridges too low?

SCOTT McFETRIDGE formation on cities where
Associated Press flood risks have been reas-
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — sessed.
A century-old train trestle Increasing humidity from
stands as one of the tro- the more than 1.5 degree
phies of Des Moines’ push increase in global tem-
to spruce up its downtown. peratures since 1880 has
Bicyclists and pedestrians resulted in more intense
pose for pictures beside downpours, according to
the brightly painted beams David R. Easterling, direc-
of the Red Bridge and tor of the national climate
gather on viewing plat- assessment unit at the Na-
forms overlooking the Des tional Oceanic and Atmo-
Moines River. spheric Administration.
But little more than a de- “It causes day after day of
cade after it was restored, rainfall, and that leads to
crews went back to the flooding,” Easterling said.
site with a crane to hoist In some cases, a city’s
the span 4½ feet (1.4 me- 100-year flood could be
ters) higher, at a cost of seen as twice what it was
$3 million, after experts 40 years ago, with double
concluded that the river’s the risk, as it was for Des
flooding risk was nearly Moines. A 100-year flood is
double earlier estimates. In this Jan. 4, 2017, file photo, traffic crosses the Virginia Street bridge in downtown Reno, Nev., the worst flood that can be
Climate change was likely above the rising waters of the Truckee River, where a flash flood watch was in effect. expected to happen over
to blame. Associated Press a century. It has a 1 per-
“It was like a bomb was cent chance of occurring
dropped off in our lap,” ment projects across a Many communities are “still states found at least 20 in any given year.
City Engineer Pam Cook- metro area with 28 com- feeling their way through locations where bridges River level forecasts have
sey said of the revised flood munities. In Reno, Nevada, this particular problem,” he have been raised or con- increased in Cedar Rap-
forecasts from the Army officials spent about $18 said. struction will begin soon. ids, Iowa, since tropic-like
Corps of Engineers. The million to replace a bridge No one tracks how many FEMA is now finalizing a rainstorms in 2008 caused
findings suggested that the over the Truckee River last communities are raising rule that states that floods the normally placid Cedar
bridge could act as a dam year and plan to replace bridges or replacing them
during bad storms, sending three more after flood- with higher ones, but the
waves of backed-up flood- danger projections were Federal Emergency Man-
water into the refurbished increased by up to 15 per- agement Agency says it’s
business district. cent. now routinely providing
Climate change is often Because the cities are in- money for this purpose,
seen as posing the great-
est risk to coastal areas.
But the nation’s inland cit-
ies face perils of their own,
including more intense
storms and more frequent
flooding. Even as President
Donald Trump has an-
nounced his intention for In this March 28, 2017, photo, the Red Bridge pedestrian bridge
the U.S. to withdraw from a is seen over the Des Moines River in Des Moines, Iowa. A little
global climate agreement, more than a decade after it was restored, crews went back to
many of the nation’s river the site with a crane to hoist the span more than 4 feet higher,
communities are respond- at a cost of $3 million, after experts concluded that the river’s
ing to climate change by flooding risk was double the previous estimates.
raising or replacing bridges Associated Press
that suddenly seem too “are expected to be more River to climb higher than
low to stay safely above This April 6, 2017 photo shows Milwaukee’s South Sixth Street frequent and more severe anyone thought possible,
Bridge over the Kinnickinnic River. The Milwaukee Metropolitan
water. Sewerage District raised the bridge to prevent the waterway over the next century due eventually topping the
The reconstructed bridg- from backing up amid downpours. It’s a technique cities nation- in part to the projected ef- previous record flood by
es range from multi-lane wide are using as officials prepare for more intense rainstorms fects of climate change.” 11 feet (3.4 meters). More
structures that handle resulting from a warming climate. That could mean higher than 1,100 blocks in Iowa’s
heavy traffic loads to small Associated Press costs for a country that second-largest city wound
rural spans traversed by land, “A lot of these are although no dollar total is sustained more than $260 up underwater.
country school buses and not the kind of places that available. Typically, more billion in flood damage be- Afterward, the Corps of En-
farmers shuttling between people are used to thinking than 1,500 bridges are re- tween 1980 and 2013. gineers raised Cedar Rap-
their fields. The bridges are of being in the forefront of constructed each year for Given the Trump adminis- ids’ projections for a 100-
being raised even in states climate change,” said Jim an assortment of reasons. tration’s skepticism of cli- year flood by 8 percent.
such as Texas, where po- Schwab, manager of the Schwab said he’s sure mate change, however, a As part of a massive flood-
litical leaders have long Hazards Planning Center hundreds and possibly FEMA spokeswoman says control project, the city de-
questioned whether cli- at the American Planning thousands of bridge-rais- the agency “has not de- cided to raise its Eighth Av-
mate change is real. Association, which is work- ing projects have been termined what its next ac- enue Bridge by 14 feet (4.3
In Milwaukee, bridges have ing with nearly a dozen cit- completed recently or are tion will be” on the rule. The meters), putting it 28 feet
been raised as part of $400 ies on flood-mitigation op- planned. A cursory check Corps of Engineers did not (8.6 meters) above the av-
million in flood-manage- tions. by the AP in a handful of respond to requests for in- erage water surface.q