American Shore and Beach Preservation Association
National Coastal Conference, Virginia Beach, VA, October 14-17, 2014
INCORPORATING A BLEND OF SOLUTIONS FOR FLOOD MITIGATION IN HURRICANE
SANDY RECOVERY PROCESS
Long Xu, PE, CFM1
Matt Shultz, PE2
Susan McCormick, PE, Chief, Coastal Erosion Management Program3
Dewberry, 133 Gaither Drive, Suite F, Mount Laurel, NJ – 856-780-3665
Dewberry, 8401 Arlington Boulevard, 22031 Fairfax, VA – 703-208-1763
3
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, NY - (518) 402-8127
1
2
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, property owners on the South Shore of Staten Island were faced with
difficult decisions whether to rebuild and recover from the devastating event or decide if it was time to
move on. As part of Governor Cuomo’s New York Rising initiative, the option of relocating from areas
subjected to damages by Hurricane Sandy was offered to residents in the area of Oakwood Beach. This
buy-out program offered residents in designated areas pre-storm values for their homes plus a
neighborhood incentive to relocate within the five boroughs of New York City. The US Army Corps of
Engineers was in the process of developing a feasibility study for the South Shore of Staten Island
focused on storm damage reduction. The New York State Department of Environment Conservation,
working with The Nature Conservancy, initiated a feasibility study to look at possible alternatives to the
Corps proposed stone dyke/revetment structure in the Oakwood Beach area. The study evaluated the use
of non-structural mitigation in addition to a blend of green infrastructure components that could
contribute to provide storm damage reduction, flood mitigation and stormwater retention for the Oakwood
Beach area. The State buy-out program helped to determine how much land would be available to
develop the nature-based infrastructure alternatives.
This presentation will provide an overview of an integrated water resources study conducted to evaluate
stormwater BMPs and tidal wetland restoration in concert with proposed storm damage reduction. Results
from the coastal hydrodynamic and overland wave modeling conducted to assess shoreline and tidal
wetland restoration alternatives will be presented. Evaluation of alternatives are based on different buyout scenarios, benefits provided by wetlands restoration, the ability to manage stormwater runoff, the
mitigation of future storm damages, and the resiliency offered to projected sea level rise.