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As the northeastern United States reeled from the catastrophic damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, politicians and city officials warned that the climate crisis would lead to more such events. According to the mayor of New York, people should prepare for “very, very worse”.
Despite a warning from the National Hurricane Center of the potential for “significant and potentially fatal flash flooding,” the strength of Wednesday night’s storm surprised many. Dozens of people have died across the region. In New York City, many people drowned in basement apartments.
Politicians have explicitly said the climate crisis is behind the storm and warned the region needs to prepare.
“Woe to us if we do not recognize that these changes are due to climate change,” said Senior New York Senator Chuck Schumer. “Woe to us if we don’t do something quickly, both to build resilient infrastructure and to switch to clean energy. “
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been criticized for failing to effectively warn his city of the approaching storm.
“Now we have to change the ground rules,” he said. “From now on, what I think we’re doing is telling New Yorkers to expect the worst. It can sound alarmist at times, but unfortunately it is proven by nature.
The storm appeared to catch many New York officials off guard.
“We didn’t know that between 8:50 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. last night, the skies would literally open up and bring Niagara Falls-level water to the streets of New York City,” said Kathy Hochul, who recently replaced Andrew Cuomo disgraced as governor. from New York.
In reference to videos on social media showing flooded stations, Hochul said, “For those who live in New York City in particular, it’s about building the resilience around these subways.”
On Friday, De Blasio announced a series of initiatives to prepare for extreme weather events, including more aggressive travel bans to keep residents off the streets before a storm and evacuations to help people living in vulnerable spaces such as the apartments in the basement.
“We are now going to talk to people living in the basement apartments – specific messages, specific cell phone alerts – to explain to them the vulnerabilities they face during these type of rainy events,” De Blasio said. .
He also discussed the potential of a basement apartment database and the use of door-to-door evacuations.
The mayor also announced the formation of a 30-day Extreme Weather Response Task Force, to examine how the city can improve preparedness and responses.
“Extreme weather conditions have become the norm,” said De Blasio. “We have to answer it differently. “
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy stressed that his state had “much more work to do” to deal with natural disasters despite the measures already taken, including $ 1.5 billion invested in hydraulic infrastructure over three years and $ 22 million earmarked for projects soil resilience.
The governor also announced $ 10 million in state grants to help small businesses affected by the storm.
Joe Biden said on Thursday that when Congress resumes, he plans to push the Build Back Better plan, an infrastructure bill that aims to modernize infrastructure across the country.
“We need to be much better prepared,” the president said. ” We need to act. “
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