![]() In the future, he said we can expect parts of Oakland to be “flooded with increasing frequency from year to year, until the quality of life can’t be maintained.” He explained to the Express how the largest floods in the region, often caused by a king tide and a storm at once, are already even bigger today than they were 20 years ago. Whatever the approach, there’s no changing the future: The water is coming.ĭaniel Hamilton is the City of Oakland’s sustainability manager. Do communities start by re-imagining their shorelines, including the possibility of sea walls and wetland cultivation? Or should they focus on increasing greenery in the hills, so that landscape acts as a sponge to soak up run-off? Or fixing the region’s antiquated sewer systems, to prevent catastrophic failure? Might the city’s focus be funding, so as to pay for these many costly projects? Or should they slow down and reach out to engage more community voices, something residents say isn’t happening nearly enough now? But, in many regards, it’s difficult to pinpoint where to begin. There are passionate scientist, officials, public employees, and activists on the case. Some areas could be permanently under water by 2100. What does that magnitude of sea rise and flooding look like, in terms of displacement and damage? Well, a 2012 report from the Pacific Institute assessed the East Bay’s vulnerability, from Emeryville to Union City, and it calculated that the effects of a sea-level rise of just sixteen inches, plus a superstorm not unlike the rains we experienced this winter, would flood some 2,000 homes in Oakland and displace 30,000 workers. Last Wednesday, a new report released by the state reinforced dire forecasts: a 67 percent chance that sea levels in the Bay will rise by 3.4 feet in the next 80 years - and a bleak outlook that they could go up by 10 feet, which would ravage neighborhoods - again, in predominately low-income communities. And his diagnosis for the East Bay’s low-income and minority neighborhoods is grim: “This is the biggest change that will take place in the history of modern society - and we don’t know what to do about it.”Īnd there’s urgency. The poorest communities will suffer the most.īrian Beveridge is a co-director with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, an environmental-justice group. Water will be flooding into our communities from both sides. Rising sea levels will magnify the damage. Indeed, the floods, rains, and power outages of winter 2017 were just a taste of what the East Bay can expect in the coming decades, as climate change causes more severe, and more frequent, extreme weather. Storm runoff from the hills could compound flooding in the flatlands. Pockets of East Oakland are positioned to experience a similar fate, perhaps worse, especially in the Havenscourt neighborhood, south of Eastmont along 66th Avenue, and large swaths near Interstate 880, what with several of its support columns rooted in backwater sloughs. And, 100 years from today, parts of West Oakland - which some new residents don’t realize was once marsh and wetlands - could be under water. Mandela Parkway, as it cuts through Memorial Park and curves toward the 580, could also be submerged. If you live in West Oakland, especially in the community of Dogtown, a storm could flood your home, your neighbors’ houses, that new favorite soul-food spot, and the community urban farm with several feet of water. Imagine the flooded streets and extreme storms of this past winter - and then flash-forward 50 more years.
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