Midland Beach and the Hurricane

I worked as a lifeguard at Midland Beach for five years. I remember as a young teenager in the early 50s the results of the then hurricanes flooding up to Hylan Boulevard. I remember taking a dive with my father along Hylan Blvd looking at the hundreds if not thousands of flooded beach houses, still under water a day or two after the hurricane. But then they were sparsely occupied, most of the land was grass, Floyd Bennett Field had just closed, but all the homes were flooded out. I do not recall any loss of life but the damage was complete. This happened several years in a row, a hurricane cycle.

I wrote just before this current hurricane that perhaps this was the time again  for extreme flooding. Regrettably I was right, it came as it had before. The NY Times writes as if it were a once in an eternity even but the result of global warming etc.

But perhaps we should beware. In the early 50s before global warming, the hurricane came year after year for almost five years. Midland Beach was always under water, before people moved there in droves. It was a natural flood plain. It will always fill up under the right circumstances, again and again.

Perhaps a trillion dollar flood wall would help but also perhaps not building there would help as well.  There is really nothing new. It will happen again, and if the past is any indication, it may happen again soon, global warming or not. Thus the question is if there should be a rebuild. Nothing has changed. Mother Nature will do what she does, and we suffer the consequences.

It is the same with the outer banks, the barrier sand bars which we call the Jersey Shore. Beautiful, but they are subject to the ravages of the ocean. Perhaps we should have a conversation regarding just how far we want to defy the ocean.

As the Times notes:

Asked if the deaths in Midland Beach reflected a failure of the city’s evacuation efforts, he responded that the term “failure” might apply “if the city didn’t have a plan and this came upon us and we were going on the fly.” But he added: “A hurricane is a foreseeable thing.” “We have a plan for that,” he said, “and we’ve done it.” 

There were warnings, there were notices, there was even history, if one dared look.  Midland Beach had many tragedies, but the warnings were there. The past also tells us that soon after one hurricane, there may very well be another. One cannot stop them.