Climate chaos is here. Let’s talk through our options, choices, decisions, and plans, and share if we’ve got anything we think can help with survival. Each week I’ll present a question or a topic that’s about something every one of us is likely to face, and see if we can figure out ways to deal with it together.
Week One’s question was Do You Stay or Do You Go? Week Two’s was What Is Your Timeline? Week Three’s was What Skill Do You Need To Learn? This week’s question is:
How Will You Deal With Flooding?
Flood Sources
Where I currently live, there are 4 different possible flood sources, the first two of which I’ve already experienced here. They are
- flooding from precipitation,
- flooding from storm drains and sewers overflowing,
- flooding directly from storms and storm surge, and
- flooding from sea level rise.
1. Climate chaos is already causing extreme precipitation events — like the floods in China in 2021, in Germany and Belgium in 2021, in Missouri and Kentucky in 2022, the 2022 Pakistan monsoon, the flooding in Death Valley in 2023, the flash flooding in Libya in 2023, and the flooding in Vermont and New York in 2023 — and these types of extreme precipitation events are forecast to increase. The storm that made a lake in Death Valley flooded us here, and did so astoundingly quickly.
2. San Francisco is saddled with a storm drain system that empties into the sewer system. When it rains, the runoff can overwhelm the sewer system and we get releases of mixed untreated sewage and runoff into the bay, into the ocean, and sometimes on the streets. Even “normal” large rains can trigger this, so we’ve had this kind of flooding as well, frequently.
3. We will get flooding from storm-driven waves and storm surge as storms get bigger and if/when the coastal berm is overwhelmed. This hasn’t happened in our neighborhood yet. On the other side of the city, on the bay, storms can cause waves to flood streets.
4. Flooding from sea level rise will also have to top the berm to get to us. On the other side of the city, though, king tides already cause flooding.
How My Area Deals With Flooding
San Francisco, where I live, is a mass of contradictions when it comes to dealing with climate change, and this is especially true for flooding. For example, bioswales were built along Sunset Blvd for flood control here, and they do a fantastic job, even in massive storms, without causing erosion or flooding. They’re also beautiful and provide habitat for multiple native species. Then there is the paving of significant chunks of Golden Gate Park for astroturf fields and the Outside Lands concerts’ concrete pad, all replacing grass and sod, that absorb nothing and pollute the water coming off them. The net result is that our city sheds water like we’re coated in teflon, and pollutes it before dumping it in the ocean and the bay.
I live on the coast and my area will be underwater. It’s a sacrifice zone and should be treated as such and aggressively planted out, but the city is instead pushing building. This will make flooding events worse until it’s a moot point.
Individually we can adopt storm drains (to make sure they’re kept clear) and push our politicians to act. But, short of ripping up paving, there’s not a lot we can do here.
What Are Some Options For Dealing With Flooding?
We’ve got rainboots, raincoats, and biking rain gear plus fenders and water-proof panniers. We’ve got wetsuits and boogie boards. I want to get an inflatable raft. Anything that can be damaged by water is stored as high as we can safely put it (given that this is also earthquake country).
Bioswales and rain gardens are fantastic in multiple ways, if you have the ability to make them.
Marshes, mangroves, permeable surfaces, sponge ecosystems, green infrastructure — generally looking at the landscape as water would and planning with the land’s resources to help the water get downhill, where it naturally wants to go, is going to have a better impact than grey infrastructure (dams, seawalls, pavement, etc.)
What Do You Have Set Up For Dealing With Flooding?