Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones
It is well known that seawalls are effective at stopping common storm surges in urban areas. This paper examines whether seawalls should be built to withstand the storm surge from a major tropical cyclone. We estimate the extra cost of building the wall tall enough to stop such surges and the extra...
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doaj-ddc594d5bd8c4d928c76356e5f61f14b2020-11-25T03:56:32ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332020-07-011172572510.3390/atmos11070725Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical CyclonesRobert Mendelsohn0Liang Zheng1School of the Environment, Yale University, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USASchool of the Environment, Yale University, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USAIt is well known that seawalls are effective at stopping common storm surges in urban areas. This paper examines whether seawalls should be built to withstand the storm surge from a major tropical cyclone. We estimate the extra cost of building the wall tall enough to stop such surges and the extra flood benefit of this additional height. We estimate the surge probability distribution from six tidal stations spread along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. We then measure how valuable the vulnerable buildings behind a 100 m wall must be to justify such a tall wall at each site. Combining information about the probability distribution of storm surge, the average elevation of protected buildings, and the damage rate at each building, we find that the value of protected buildings behind this 100 m wall must be in the hundreds of millions to justify the wall. We also examine the additional flood benefit and cost of protecting a km<sup>2</sup> of land in nearby cities at each site. The density of buildings in coastal cities in the United States are generally more than an order of magnitude too low to justify seawalls this high. Seawalls are effective, but not at stopping the surge damage from major tropical cyclones.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/7/725tropical cycloneflood damagecoastal resiliencestorm surge100-year surge |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Robert Mendelsohn Liang Zheng |
spellingShingle |
Robert Mendelsohn Liang Zheng Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones Atmosphere tropical cyclone flood damage coastal resilience storm surge 100-year surge |
author_facet |
Robert Mendelsohn Liang Zheng |
author_sort |
Robert Mendelsohn |
title |
Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones |
title_short |
Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones |
title_full |
Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones |
title_fullStr |
Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones |
title_full_unstemmed |
Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones |
title_sort |
coastal resilience against storm surge from tropical cyclones |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Atmosphere |
issn |
2073-4433 |
publishDate |
2020-07-01 |
description |
It is well known that seawalls are effective at stopping common storm surges in urban areas. This paper examines whether seawalls should be built to withstand the storm surge from a major tropical cyclone. We estimate the extra cost of building the wall tall enough to stop such surges and the extra flood benefit of this additional height. We estimate the surge probability distribution from six tidal stations spread along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. We then measure how valuable the vulnerable buildings behind a 100 m wall must be to justify such a tall wall at each site. Combining information about the probability distribution of storm surge, the average elevation of protected buildings, and the damage rate at each building, we find that the value of protected buildings behind this 100 m wall must be in the hundreds of millions to justify the wall. We also examine the additional flood benefit and cost of protecting a km<sup>2</sup> of land in nearby cities at each site. The density of buildings in coastal cities in the United States are generally more than an order of magnitude too low to justify seawalls this high. Seawalls are effective, but not at stopping the surge damage from major tropical cyclones. |
topic |
tropical cyclone flood damage coastal resilience storm surge 100-year surge |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/7/725 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT robertmendelsohn coastalresilienceagainststormsurgefromtropicalcyclones AT liangzheng coastalresilienceagainststormsurgefromtropicalcyclones |
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