The Morning: America’s flooding problem

Plus, China, sickle cell gene therapy and Hanoi, Vietnam.

View in browser|nytimes.com October 22, 2024 Good morning. Today, my colleague Christopher Flavelle writes about how people are coping with increasing floods. We're also covering early voting, sickle cell gene therapy and Hanoi, Vietnam. —David Leonhardt In Plant City, Fla. Caitlin Ochs for The New York Times Three views of the water By Christopher Flavelle I write about how we try to adapt to climate change. America has a flooding problem. When Hurricane Milton hit Florida, the images of inundation seemed shocking — but also weirdly normal: For what felt like the umpteenth time this year, entire communities were underwater. Since the 1990s, the cost of flood damage has roughly doubled each decade, according to one estimate. The federal government issued two disaster declarations for floods in 2000. So far this year, it has issued 66. The reasons are no mystery. Global warming is making storms more severe because warmer air holds more water. At the same time, more Americans are moving to the coast and other flood-prone areas. Those conflicting trends are forcing people to adapt. Advances in design, science and engineering — combined with a willingness to spend vast amounts of money — have allowed the United States and other wealthy countries to try new ideas for coping with water. In today's newsletter, I'll tell you about the three basic ways to deal with flooding. 1. Fight the water The first strategy is to fight the water: Build walls to keep it out of your city, along with giant pumps and drains to remove whatever water gets in. Think of Holland, much of which would be underwater without a massive network of barriers, or Venice, which now relies on sea walls during high tide. But thanks to climate change, this approach means ever-more-epic fortifications. After Hurricane Katrina, the federal government built a $14 billion, 350-mile defensive ring around New Orleans. The United States is also looking at building 12 movable sea barriers to protect New York Harbor from a storm surge, at an initial cost of $52 billion. Even the beneficiaries aren't always thrilled. A plan to build a six-mile-long, 20-foot-high sea wall around the coast of Miami prompted outrage: It would, after all, ruin the view. The plan was abandoned. 2. Live with it The second approach is to accept that water will get in, so we should live with it. This entails elevating homes off the ground, as builders do in the Outer Banks or coastal Louisiana. It also means raising roads, power stations and other critical infrastructure — all at no small cost. Another example of living with water is described in an excellent new piece from my colleague Rory Smith, who visited a coastal plain in southwest England that used to be farmland protected by a sea wall. Officials converted it into a marsh when they realized it was best just to open up flood barriers, turning the area into a giant sponge. Now, communities farther inland are less likely to flood. Cities like Hoboken, N.J., have embraced this concept, building spaces designed to capture and hold storm water. In Bradenton Beach, Fla. Callaghan O'Hare for The New York Times 3. Pack your bags Sometimes those things don't work. Then, and usually only then, communities resign themselves to simply leaving. In 2016, the Obama administration provided $48 million to move Isle de Jean Charles, an island village of a few dozen families in Louisiana, away from the rising Gulf of Mexico. The single road to the mainland was frequently wrecked by storms, and, by common consensus, the community couldn't be saved. It was the first climate-driven relocation project in the United States. I visited Isle de Jean Charles to watch residents vote on where their new community should be built. Relocation — experts call it "managed retreat" — is about as hard as you might think. Few people are eager to leave, and there's no guarantee that the community will remain intact. Even so, the approach is becoming more common. Congress has passed millions of dollars to relocate Native American tribes, which often live on land dangerously vulnerable to flooding. Canada pushes some homeowners not to rebuild in the same place after a flood. What now? Behind those options is a puzzle: With so many tools available, why does flood damage in the United States (which cost more than $180 billion last year, according to one estimate) keep rising? I asked Chad Berginnis, head of the Association of State Floodplain Managers. "Two things," he told me. "Irrationality and elections." People struggle to assess the danger when disasters are infrequent but incredibly costly, he said. And politicians realize they won't become popular by raising people's taxes to pay for colossal infrastructure projects. With that in mind, Berginnis suggests a fourth option for flood protection: In especially high-risk areas, stop building new homes. For more: I encourage you to read Rory's article about how England surrendered farmland back to the water. For more This summer, the U.S. government restricted building in flood plains. Last month, fueled by climate change, floods wreaked havoc across four continents. Real estate is booming in flood zones. Here's why buyers risk it. Scientists are mapping landslide hazards in Alaska. Some homeowners don't want to know. THE LATEST NEWS Voting Kamala Harris helping with hurricane relief in North Carolina. Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times With two weeks to Election Day, millions of people have already voted. The polls are essentially tied, Nate Cohn writes. Trump said he's seen no evidence that the election will be unfair, but continued to suggest Democrats could rig it. The campaigns are searching for undecided voters — many of them young, Black or Latino — who could decide the race. More on 2024 Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Project 2025, but more than half the initiative's hundreds of contributors worked in his administration, on his transition team or for one of his presidential campaigns. Liz Cheney, campaigning with Harris, suggested that Republican abortion bans are too extreme. Cheney, an anti-Trump Republican, opposed abortion rights while in Congress. Harris's campaign has consistently out-raised and outspent Trump's. Would Harris's expanded child tax credit be worth the cost? Meet one mother who says yes because she has experienced it. A bipartisan House task force faulted the Secret Service for poor planning and a communications breakdown that led to the July assassination attempt against Trump. Middle East Hezbollah missiles targeted the Tel Aviv area hours before Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to hold meetings there. America's top envoy on the war between Israel and Hezbollah warned that it was spiraling out of control. Even after Yahya Sinwar's death, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unlikely, Steven Erlanger writes, in part because of a lack of effective Palestinian leadership and the destruction in Gaza. The Israeli authorities arrested seven people they said were spies for Iran. More International News In Forest City, Malaysia. Amrita Chandradas for The New York Times A Chinese property developer planned a "green futuristic city" on four man-made islands in Malaysia. Then it defaulted on its debt. Moldovans voted narrowly to draw closer to the European Union, rather than Russia. Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine, described his life in a nine-foot-square Russian prison cell. Vladimir Putin is hosting BRICS — the group embracing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and now four other countries, that he hopes can become a coalition against the West. Other Big Stories Kendric Cromer, 12. Kenny Holston/The New York Times The first patient of a sickle cell gene therapy, a 12-year-old boy, left the hospital. The Biden administration is seeking to require insurers cover over-the-counter birth control without cost to patients. Researchers found lithium in Arkansas — perhaps enough of it to meet global demand for the metal, which is used in electric vehicle batteries. Opinions We should be making our elections more accessible, not tightening rules because of conspiracy theories about fraud, Neil Makhija, a Pennsylvania county commissioner, says. In an era of Amazon, many blue-collar workers are in warehouse jobs. To have political influence, they need to organize like steelworkers once did, Farah Stockman writes. Here's columns by Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein on Trump. The Times Sale starts now: Our best rate for readers of The Morning. Save now with our best offer on unlimited news and analysis as part of the complete Times experience: $1/week for your first year. MORNING READS Hanoi's Train Street. Linh Pham for The New York Times Travel: Spend 36 hours in Hanoi, Vietnam. Cheerleading: Read how the sport became so dangerous and so popular. Atlanta: See a list of the city's 25 best restaurants. Print isn't dead: This Florida billionaire wants to become a newspaper baron. Metropolitan Diary: Who will buy her roses? Lives Lived: For two decades, Andrew Schally raced his onetime colleague Roger Guillemin to pinpoint the brain hormones that control growth, reproduction and more. Their rivalry peaked in 1977, when they shared a Nobel Prize. Schally died at 97. SPORTS World Series: After 43 years, the Dodgers and the Yankees will resume their rivalry. Read about the matchup. N.F.L.: The Baltimore Ravens beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 41-31. The Cardinals won against the Chargers on a late field goal. W.N.B.A.: The players' association opted out of the league's collective bargaining agreement, preparing to seek better terms. N.B.A.: The season begins tonight. In Los Angeles, LeBron and Bronny James may become the first father and son to play in a regular-season game together. The baseball players Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. will be watching. ARTS AND IDEAS Illustration by Nicolás Ortega; Photographs by Getty Images People-pleasing happens for a range of reasons: It can be a childhood habit, a way of dealing with social anxiety or a response to fear of conflict. For those used to putting others first, standing up for oneself can be nerve-racking. So the Well newsletter fielded tips from experts, including this one from the author Jefferson Fisher: Start by telling others that you're going to disappoint them. You can try saying, "This is going to disappoint you — I can't make it tonight," Fisher said. Saying this out loud helps you to assume control of your fear of letting the person down. More on culture Being a pop star is serious business. In two recent horror movies — "Smile 2" and "Trap" — it's also terrifying. Sean Combs is facing federal sex trafficking charges, and many radio stations have stopped playing his work. But his streaming numbers are growing. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Bake an apple cake. Take a wellness vacation. Travel with a good toiletry bag. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was hologram. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. P.S. Meet the editor behind The Times's election coverage. He's been busy this year. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. 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