Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 1 June 2017

Insidious but overlooked: Back-bay flooding plagues millions

WAYNE PARRY more complicated” than
Associated Press simply pumping sand onto
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (AP) — oceanfront beaches.
Marty Mozzo gets a gor- The Army Corps and state
geous show each night officials began a three-
when the sun sets over year study of back bay
wetlands near his property flooding in December in
on the bay side of a barrier New Jersey that seeks cost-
island. effective solutions that can
When he and his wife be replicated elsewhere.
bought the house in 2008, Similar studies are under-
she looked at the marsh, way or were recently com-
where the only sign of wa- pleted in New York, Vir-
ter was a tiny trickle nearly ginia, Texas, Connecticut,
a half mile away. Rhode Island, Maryland
“Do you think this will and Washington, D.C.
flood?” she asked. Many traditional engineer-
“How could it?” he replied. ing solutions that are used
“Look how far away the along the oceanfront are
water is.” of limited benefit against
Within weeks of moving back-bay flooding. Houses
in, a storm stranded them are being elevated and
for two days with water roadways repaved to
on all sides. Theirs is one of make them higher. But the
several neighborhoods in This March 14, 2017, photo shows Jim and Maryann O’Neill’s home in a back bay neighborhood bulkheads, sea walls and
Ocean City, New Jersey, of Manahawkin N.J., surrounded by water after a moderate storm. sand dunes used along the
where residents have ad- Associated Press ocean can’t be replicated
opted unofficial flood eti- in many back-bay areas
quette: Don’t drive too fast — with dramatic video of Nearly five years after Su- department for research because of limited space
through flooded streets or crashing waves and splin- perstorm Sandy delivered grants, flood mapping and resistance from hom-
you’ll create wakes that tered houses. a wake-up call, the prob- and analysis. If enacted by eowners who prize water-
slam into houses, scatter “This insidious flooding is in- lem of back-bay flooding Congress, many environ- front views.
garbage cans, and dam- creasing, and it is an impor- is coming into sharper fo- mental groups worry, less Jim and Maryann O’Neill
age lawns and gardens. tant social issue, but it is not cus. Studies are underway, money will be available to moved from Philadelphia
They are among millions of getting enough attention money is starting to flow to- study back-bay flooding. to a section of Stafford
people worldwide whose paid to it,” said S. Jeffress ward the problem, and the Jeff Gebert, chief of coast- Township, New Jersey, in
lives and land are being Williams, a coastal scien- realization that destruction al planning for U.S. Army 1994 for a quiet existence
dampened by back-bay tist with the U.S. Geological of wetlands for develop- Corps of Engineers Phila- near the water. But they’re
flooding — inundation of Survey. “Flooding is hap- ment along such shores is delphia division, acknowl- now much nearer to it than
waterfront areas behind pening with increasing fre- partly to blame is leading edged that before Sandy, they bargained for.
barrier islands where wind quency in back bay areas. to discussion about building back bay flooding was not In January 2016, a coast-
and tides can create It happens very rapidly; it’s codes. President Donald as high on the agency’s ra- al storm inundated the
flooding during storms or just not as dramatic.” Trump’s budget proposal, dar, due in part to the lack Stafford Township, New
even on sunny days. It’s a Williams, who lives on Cape released last week, would of easy engineering solu- Jersey home of Jim and
type of flooding that tends Cod in Massachusetts, said cut a combined $452 mil- tions. Maryann O’Neill. A March
to be overshadowed by back bay flooding is hap- lion from the National The picture is largely the 2017 storm submerged the
oceanfront storm damage pening just as frequently Oceanographic and At- same nationwide, he said, roads and deposited fish
that grabs headlines — — if not more so — than mospheric Administration “because the solution to on the pavement in front
and government spending oceanfront flooding. and the Homeland Security back bay flooding is much of their house. q