US coastal communities should prepare for rising seas, presidential task force warns

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Coastal communities should assume floods are going to happen more frequently and realize that spending now on protective measures could save money later, according to a report issued by a presidential task force charged with developing a strategy for rebuilding areas damaged by superstorm Sandy.

Most of the report’s 69 recommendations focus on a simple warning: Plan for future storms in an age of climate change and rising sea levels. It calls for development of a more-advanced electrical grid and the creation of better planning tools and standards for storm-damaged communities.

“If we build smart, if we build resilience into communities, then we can live along the coast. We can do it in a way that saves lives and protects taxpayer investments,” said Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, who discussed the report Monday with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Donovan was appointed chairman of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force by President Barack Obama.

Some of the group’s key recommendations already are being implemented, including the creation of new flood-protection standards for major infrastructure projects built with federal money and the promotion of a sea-level modeling tool that will help builders and engineers predict where flooding might occur in the future.