Tokyo Prepares for a Once-in-200-Year Flood to Top Sandy
By Chris Cooper & Kiyotaka Matsuda - May 31, 2013 4:47 AM ET
Tokyo, the world’s most populated metropolis, is building defenses for the possibility of a flood in the next 200 years that could dwarf the damage superstorm Sandy wrought on the U.S. East Coast.
Japan’s capital, flanked by rivers to the east and west, as well as running through it, faces 33 trillion yen ($322 billion) in damages should the banks break on the Arakawa River that bisects Tokyo, according to government estimates. That’s more than five times the $60.2 billion aid package for Sandy that slammed into the U.S. northeast last October.
“Japan hasn’t prepared enough,” said Toru Sueoka, president of the Japanese Geotechnical Society, an organization of engineers, consultants and researchers. “Weather patterns have changed and we are getting unusual conditions. We need upgrades or else our cities won’t be able to cope with floods.”
In 2008, for the first time in human history, half of the world’s population lived in urban areas and that will rise to 60 percent by 2030, according to a World Bank report titled Cities and Flooding. The report says that trend combined with climate change means the world’s cities will bear the biggest loss of life and the largest economic costs from flooding.
Should the Arakawa River break its banks, about 2,000 people in Tokyo may lose their lives and around 860,000 will be stranded, according to the government. The waters would flood subway and regular train lines, crippling 97 stations.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-30/tokyo-prepares-for-once-in-200-year-flood-forecast-to-top-sandy.html
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