Reason Magazine 2014 Quartal 2 Seite 48

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around the world have multiple options when it comes to flood pro tection equipment and systems Flood protection products include temporary perimeter barriers opening barriers backwater valves and flood abatement pumps These products when used as part of a comprehensive flood emergency response plan FERP can help prevent floodwater from entering a facility and reduce or eliminate business interruption Thanks to a partnership between FM Approvals the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Association of State Flood plain Managers ASFPM property owners government agencies and emergency response organizations now have a growing range of certified flood protection options including FM Approved products Below is the story of two organizations a real estate firm and a Canada provincial government agency that use temporary perim eter barriers to help mitigate flood risk NORWAY FLOOD PROTECTION COMES TO NEW YORK A year before Hurricane Sandy made its mark as the second costliest hurricane in U S history another storm Hurricane Irene while devastating to many inland areas was considered a dud by many New York City residents Overhyped was the consensus of many who weathered the media storm that preceded Irene For this reason perhaps many residents of Manhattan s low lying Zone A defied mandatory evacuation orders a day prior to Sandy s arrival on October 29 2012 Hurricane Irene was a tropi cal storm by the time it reached us notes Nehad Moughrabi the resident property manager of New York Plaza a 19 story mixed resi dential and retail tower owned by Pan Am Equities and located just a block from Battery Park on the lower tip of Manhattan There were wind gusts and lots of rain We figured Sandy wouldn t be much worse than Irene About 15 percent of the tower s residents followed mandatory evacuation orders for Zone A residents Although many tower resi dents chose to ignore the warnings Nehad and his team worked hard to prepare They created sandbag barriers around the main entrances and service doors Despite these and many other preparations the ground floor and cellar of New York Plaza at Two Water Street were inundated the evening Sandy struck The storm surge from Sandy hit 13 88 feet 4 23 meters sur passing the old record of 10 02 feet 3 05 meters set by Hurricane PROPERTY OWNERS