Shelter from the Storm – Science

An aerial view of the damage Hurricane Ike inflicted upon Gilchrist, Texas (by Jocelyn Augusitno/FEMA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).

A plan to wall off Houston and nearby industry from flooding caused by hurricanes will cost tens of billions of dollars. Will it be enough?

Plans for one of the world’s biggest and most expensive flood barriers were born in a second-floor apartment here in this city on the Gulf of Mexico, as water 4 meters deep filled the street below. In September 2008, Bill Merrell, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University, Galveston, was trapped with his wife, daughter, grandson, and “two annoying chihuahuas…”

A 7m wall has gone up on a Sydney beach: are we destroying public space to save private property? – The Guardian

Coastal Erosion along Old Bar Beach, Australia (photo © SAF)

“We really didn’t want to build a wall,” says Bob Orth.

But Orth is one of 10 residents of Collaroy, on Sydney’s northern beaches, who have each paid $300,000 to do just that.

And not just any wall. Construction began in December on a seven-metre-high sheer concrete structure below the residents’ properties, which overlook a beach that has become notorious for dramatic erosion every time there is a big storm.