After Hurricane Ian, weather events demonstrated the need to make sure existing infrastructure systems are able to handle climate-enhanced storms and possible flooding.
Congressman A. Donald McEachin wrote a letter Tuesday to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and City Council President Cynthia Newbille requesting a climate resiliency study for the city to assess “the integrity and capabilities of the Richmond floodwall and levee system,” according to a press release.
“With warmer air aloft, a storm or hurricane can hold more moisture and in turn cause heavier and more catastrophic rainfall, greatly exceeding what we would normally expect in a 100-year or even 500-year flooding event,” McEachin wrote. “This type of event, a so called “rain bomb,” was observed with Hurricane Harvey and the devastating impact it had on the city of Houston, Texas.”
McEachin held briefings with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), according to the press release, to discuss the Richmond floodwall and levee system’s ability to handle extreme flooding. USACE noted that the existing system is built for a 280-year flood event, but no studies have been done to assess the resiliency of the system when it comes to climate-enhanced storms.
“While I would like to ask that USACE undertake such a study, any effort to initiate a study on the climate resiliency of the Richmond floodwall and levee system by USACE would have to come at the request of the city or state government. I strongly urge the city to request that USACE begin such a study,” McEachin’s letter continued. “This study’s main goal would be to determine whether the system can withstand the growing threat of climate-enhanced storms and whether there are improvements that can be instituted to ensure that the Richmond floodwall and levee system does not fail when it is needed most. This could save countless lives in the event of a record-breaking flood event.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
