www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY March 22, 2020 4
City Island Rising’s John Doyle and Helen Chang of the New York Sea Grant speak at the City Island Rising meeting on March 12. Schneps Media Jason cohen
City Island Rising to record future fl ooding episodes
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MEMBER:
BY JASON COHEN
A non-profi t environmental
group is working with City Island
to curb fl ooding by having
citizens document images to help
professionals identify the problem
areas.
On Thursday, March 12, Helen
Chang of the Community Flood
Watch Project, which is part of
the Science and Resilience Institute
at Jamaica Bay- New York
Sea Grant spoke at the City Island
Rising meeting about the
work her organization is doing
to benefi t City Island.
“We are trying to utilize your
knowledge,” Chang said to the attendees.
“You guys are here 24/7
and know where those hot spots
are.”
The project uses citizen science
to report fl ooding events in
the Jamaica Bay watershed. By
using photographs and reports
collected by community members,
researchers can visualize
how high tides might look in the
future due to sea level rise, as
well as improve the science and
computer models of fl ooding.
Chang explained that fl ooding
doesn’t just occur during a
storm, but can take place on a
beautiful clear blue and sunny
day or due to tides or offshore
winds. She said that since most
people today have smart phones,
capturing the fl ooding should be
easy.
“We know that climate change
is here and one of the aspects of
climate change is sea level rising,”
Chang stated.
According to the New York
Sea Grant, the national annual
frequency of high tide fl ooding
reached fi ve days in 2018, tying a
historic record set in 2015 and by
2030, long-term projections show
a national frequency of seven to
14 days of high tide fl ooding.
The partnership with City Island
Rising began in December
and they are slowly collecting
data and determining what parts
of the community need help.
“We’ve been able to see some
of the City Island photos through
the help of John Doyle, the president
of City Island Rising and everyone
else and help them verify
their numbers if it’s related to a
storm,” Chang said.
She noted the documentation
has helped the national weather
service as well.
“It’s really exciting to see
their work getting used,” she
said. “It’s really a great exchange
between scientist experts and the
community.”
Chang also praised the members
of City Island Rising.
“The project is really growing
and wouldn’t have been possible
without working with community
partners like City Island
Rising,” she commented. “The
more people that we recruit and
participate the more robust information
we fi nd out there.”
Doyle noted that communities
that have-well documented
information of where fl ooding
takes place would likely receive
more funding than those who
don’t.
“Having everybody become
data collectors and using our
friends in the media here is going
to be a tremendous source,”
Doyle said. “We will be documenting
these things day in, and day
out. Knowing who the real smart
people are and bringing them the
documentation makes it really
well represented when this goes
forward. This is a tremendous
partnership for advocacy.”
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