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Residents of Essex and Clinton counties who were impacted by the storm are asked to take short survey
The Paul Smith’s College Senior Capstone for Integrated Disaster Management Studies is in full swing. This spring’s students are developing a research project that focuses on Community Resilience to Natural Disasters and how that resilience is linked to ecosystem restoration and adaptability.
We designed a survey to begin to address the following steps which are often found in community based vulnerability assessments:
Step 1: Identify and Rank Hazards
Step 2: Map Areas of Greatest Risk
Step 3: Identify and Map Physically Vulnerable People and Property
Step 4: Identify and Map Socially Vulnerable Populations
Step 5: Inventory and Map Environmental Hazards
The survey is based on Community Vulnerability metrics from the FEMA RAP Toolkit. Much of the identification of social vulnerabilities will come directly from the responses in your surveys. We will consider this empirical data and establish our own vulnerability assessment. If you’re interested in helping us, and live in Essex or Clinton Counties, the survey link is found here.
Irene’s flooding of Styles Bridge in Keene, photo by Lorraine Duvall
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After the flood and before the next storm
On the heels of the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Irene, comes commemoration of another calamity: It’s been almost two years since the Halloween Storm of 2019 dumped a frightening amount of rain in the Southeastern Adirondacks, an event that probably received less attention than was due because it centered on a less populated part of the park.
The storm washed out the road to the much-ballyhooed Boreas Ponds, scarcely six weeks after it had opened. One small victim of the storm was a bridge leading to Hammond Pond, a sparkling blue sheet in the Eastern Adirondacks. It took two years, but the state has finally replaced it with a beefy piece of infrastructure that is part bridge, part work of art (see photo above).
It may seem like overkill for such a small stream, but as the climate changes, that’s what it’s going to take to withstand the beating that trails, roads and bridges are likely to absorb from rising rivers and streams. Notably, the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act on the ballot next year would spend no less than $1 billion to brace against the impact of flooding. Many have fretted over the costs of lowering carbon emissions. But failing to lower carbon emissions is likely to cost us far more.
— Tim Rowland, Explorer contributor