Meltdowns and Waves – Archive

The second part of our Sandy trip consisted of our group driving to various neighborhoods along the shore. One thing that I noticed was just how high some of the beach houses were. Almost everyone we passed by was on stilts or was 3 to 4 stories high. It seems to me the locals answer to Sandy was to build up. I think this isn’t necessarily a good strategy. It might mitigate flood damage in a house, but it is like putting a band aid on a gaping wound. Global warming is going to cause storms like Sandy to get worse and worse. Building bigger and higher houses might stop water damage from a few storms, but there will always be a bigger storm.
The second thing I found interesting on our drive around was the wealth of some of these areas. Some of the beach houses were absolutely massive and seemed to be in the worst areas in terms of flooding. These richer communities were one of the only ones without dunes higher than their houses. I think there is a serious problem with how these richer areas are able to rebuild so quickly. Instead of worrying about protection from the next storm it seems to me that people assume a storm like this couldn’t happen for another 100 years. This constant cycle of storm destruction and rebuilding is counterproductive and ignores the big picture. Towards the end of our tour we came across a neighborhood that our tour guide informed us is very modest and less upscale. Yet, when we arrived, the neighborhood seemed to be very upscale. I found this extremely telling of what happened after Sandy. Many people couldn’t afford to rebuild their houses so they left to a different area, then those who could afford to live in these flood prone areas move in.
After our trip to the shore, we were off to Japan to learn about earthquakes and tsunamis. The fist thing I noticed when we arrived in Tokyo was the massive amount of people in it. If there was an earthquake in the city it would be insane trying to stay calm in a crowd of thousands in the streets. First thing in the morning we online and found an extensive evacuation plan mapping where to go in case of various disasters. I was amazed at how extensive the plans were and how detailed the instructions were. The maps were specific to the district of Tokyo you were in too adding to the comprehensive nature of the plans. There were also signs all over the city directing you to the nearest evacuation zone and they even included English translations.
Our visit to the Tokyo disaster center was the most surprising part of our first two days in Japan. It featured a very extensive simulation of what to do after surviving an earthquake. What amazed me was just how much information was included in the simulation and just how detailed it was. It talked about liquefaction, which I would have never assumed to be public knowledge. I couldn’t believe the center included extensive details on how to build collapsible toilets and even how to make a chair out of water bottles.