Water & Dams

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To combat rising waters and storm surge in Atlantic City, N.J., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is building a $34-million seawall-like project—the Absecon Inlet Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Structure.

After Superstorm Sandy brought the reality of sea-level rise home  to New York City, city leaders and the community responded.

Texas’ most vulnerable stretch of coastline is along the Houston-Galveston area, which hosts a slew of refineries, oil tanks and other critical infrastructure.

The coast of Louisiana is sinking, drowning and being blown away at a rate that exceeds any other coastline in the United States.

For years, the city of Miami Beach had approached the concept of sea-level rise much like that of other coastal communities: with a lot of “talk talk talk” but not much action, says Bruce Mowry, city engineer.

Hampton Roads in Virginia—seven communities and 11 federal facilities—is facing one of the worst combinations of erosion, subsidence and sea-level rise in the nation.

In one respect, Tangier Island, Va.’s situation has been the same for centuries: Its shorelines are still eroding into the Chesapeake Bay.

Another seawall wasn’t the answer.

When FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) expires next month, the pressure will be on Congress to reauthorize the program, ideally by adopting long-delayed reforms.