Houston is no stranger to floods. They occur almost every year, but not on this scale. This year’s epic disaster has triggered a new round of discussion on how coastal cities can adapt to the new threat of increasingly frequent extreme weather events. The lessons are relevant to densely populated coastal cities in Asia, experts say.
As in Mumbai, Bangkok and half a dozen other coastal Asian cities, rapid growth of concrete urban infrastructure and conversion of wetlands that act as natural drainage have made Houston more vulnerable to flooding.
Also mirroring the explosive growth of coastal Asian cities, Houston has grown faster than most other cities in the US, and is today America’s fourth-largest.
Coastal cities increasingly face extreme storm and rainfall events, at least in part due to global warming.
“There are two things cities can do: Build infrastructure that is resilient to climate and weather events, that might cost 5 or 10 per cent more – which is pretty small compared to the risk; and use green infrastructure like water bodies and spillways to manage weather events,” Mr Ani Dasgupta the Washington- based global director of the World Resources Institute’s Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities said.
Or take more dramatic action like abandoning some of the most vulnerable areas, giving them back to nature, said Professor Ann Rappaport, a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.
“A lot more focus on risk management needs to be taken at the municipal level,” Prof Rappaport added. “A lot of threats related to water and storm damage can be managed with some very thoughtful planning ahead of time. That’s the fundamental responsibility of government, to protect its citizens.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 3 September 2017