Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

For New York City, it would appear that Hurricane Sandy was a learning experience. The storm, one of the largest Atlantic storms ever measured, roared up the U.S. eastern seaboard in October 2012 and devastated parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, bringing record flooding and causing billions of dollars in storm damage. Resulting blackouts and flooding of subway systems caused unprecedented misery in lower Manhattan, cutting off millions of residents from fresh water, electricity and even food supplies. The events were so severe the federal government deployed the National Guard to assist with storm relief efforts and security. The event left 43 people in the greater New York City area dead and more than one thousand homeless.

To ensure that the city is better prepared in terms of having a power protection plan in the future against a similar storm, the city’s Building Resiliency Task Force, a group of more than 200 landlords, property managers, architects, city officials and consultants, recently convened and drafted a list of 33 recommendations for action to help “storm proof” the city. The money for such improvements would likely come from the billions of dollars New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg (News - Alert) has proposed for infrastructure improvements to protect the city’s more than 500 miles of coastline.

These new recommendations include a mandate for buildings to store adequate drinking water in common areas and have exterior plugs for temporary generators, as well as raising homes off the ground and preventing toxic runoff from getting into floodwaters, according to Bloomberg. The task force also recommended mandating plumbing that can operate without needing to be connected to the electric grid, which would reduce the chances of a sewage catastrophe in the event of another storm.

“Another Sandy is inevitable, and New York isn’t ready,” Russell Unger, executive director of the council, said in a statement issued by Bloomberg’s office, in a statement. “But it can be. The task force recommendations are tangible and economically achievable steps.”

The city was recently forced to redraw its “100 year flood zone” (referring to the demarcation where water has risen the highest during a 100 year period).