Much of the devastation has occurred in the barrier islands and coastal communities of NC, MD, DE, NJ and NY, with more to come to the North East region of the country. But from what we have seen this morning, entire towns are destroyed. Thousands of people are now displaced from their homes, which are now covered in sand or still under water.
Unfortunately, this storm was inevitable and the damage that occurred was as well. It is all part of a natural process that humans have tried to control.
Barrier islands are not meant for people to live on; they are natural formations that evolve over time and move away and towards the land. This process usually takes hundreds, if not thousands of years, but with humans industrializing and colonizing these islands, we have tried to stop this process from happening. From pictures we have seen this morning, beaches are now 3 blocks inland in Ocean City, NJ (the same is seen all over the coast). This is meant to happen and these storms are the driving force of this process. We have halted the process, known as barrier island migration, by constantly building up beaches as they erode over the years. Had we not done this, these islands may be miles closer to the coast, or part of the actual coastline by now.
These features act as barriers to the harsh elements of the sea, which is exactly why the are called barrier islands. By putting communities on these islands, no one will ever be safe from storms. By resisting coastal erosion through the building up of beaches, known as beach dredging, we are increasing the chances of a catastrophe if a large enough storm were to come through - which is exactly what we have seen this weekend.
This same theory can be applied to forest fires. Humans suppress forest fires in an attempt to protect humans. That is fine, it is what we have to do in some cases. But forest fires are a natural process used to restore nature and are an essential part of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, as humans suppress forest fires, this allows for the oils, that burn and fuel the fires, to accumulate. Eventually, there will be such an accumulation of these oils that once a fire starts, it will be almost impossible to control and stop. This is what we have seen this year with the massive forest fires in the Midwest, Western and Southwestern United States.
Humans are trying to play the role of God on Earth. We constantly try and control something much more powerful than we will ever be - Nature. There are some things that are just meant to happen, some places we are just not meant to live and some things that we will never be able to control. These deadly interactions between natural disasters and humans will become a common theme for the future. There is a population boom occurring and only so much land for humans to live on, so it is inevitable that these disasters will affect humans more often.
The point I am trying to get across is this: we must let nature run its course. By suppressing her, it will only make things worse. Hurricane Sandy has proven my point by nearly annihilating the Mid-Atlantic coastal communities. People's front porches, 200 yards from where the beach used to be, are now under 2 feet of sand. With major hurricanes projected to continuously target this region due to climate change, we can only expect that we will continue to experience this devastation and will unfortunately continue to lose lives. I understand that at this point, there is nothing we can really do. I am not trying to convince people to move entire communities inland and off barrier island - that is nearly impossible. But just know that Hurricane Sandy-type scenario's will become more common. Unfortunately, that is the harsh reality of it all and the consequences of humans trying to control Mother Nature.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this storm, whether you have lost a home, have a damaged home, know someone who affected by Sandy, and for those who we have lost and those injured. We will all be there to help you in this time of need.
Donate anything that you can to the Red Cross, they are running short on supplies and finances.
http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Responding-to-Hurricane-Sandy
Also, volunteer at soup kitchens and shelters where thousands of people are now calling home. They need your help desperately.
Send your stories or pictures of Sandy to clementiv@comcast.net and I will repost them. This is a time for all of us to come together and help one another.
Videos:
AP Raw footage of infiltrating blocks inland on barrier islands, recovery efforts and sea footage.
Ocean City, NJ local surfer, Rob Kelly, with footage of the beginning of the storm.
Ocean City, NJ local surfer, Rob Kelly, with footage of the aftermath on 1st Street.
Photos:
What is left of the Atlantic City Boardwak
Casino Pier, Sea Side Heights, NJ...That is the famous roller coaster in the ocean.
The Rockaways in NYC, over 80 homes were destroyed last night due to fires.
The Pumphouse in Florida looking like Teahupoo.
agreed, however i feel as though you have stated the obvious. how is that going to affect the demand for properties in such diabolical locations. i.e people are always going to prefer beach front relative to one kilometre inland. as you stated, the effects of nature are inevitable, although the actions of mankind have had their impact. thus, what are our options to deal with such de-degradation in conjunction with economics and increased demand and social incentive to inhabit such locations.
ReplyDeletewith love xoxo
That is a great point. As we can see in many U.S. policies, economic benefits tend to heavily outweigh social and environmental benefits. Here we have seen that while it may not be the best idea to develop this land, the amount of revenue that could be generated from doing so seems too good to pass on. As I said in my article, I do not expect people to give up their beach front property, nor do I expect local and state governments to put a law into effect ordering the development or living on barrier islands forbidden. One must look at this scenario with the cost-benefit analysis and to determine the pro's and con's of living in such a vulnerable region.
DeleteThe safest option would obviously be to move off of a barrier island to lessen the chance to being severely impacted by a strong storm (i.e flooding, damage, etc.). But, the odds of large amounts of people doing that is slim to none. It is hard to structurally prepare a house and community for storms such as Sandy because nature is stronger than anything we can build. Damage will always be done no matter how much notice is given and how strong one things a structure is.
So, there really is no right answer to this. States will never take the route that blocks living on barrier islands and won't forbid development on them; the economic incentives are to great and in many cases (such as New Jersey, Delaware, etc) these states rely on these communities as they can be the largest contributing factor to their revenue. The safest option is there, it is just a matter of how bad people want to do it and whether or not they are willing to give up their property in order to remain secure.
A true testiment that Nature will always win over man.
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