Did you watch CBS "60 Minutes" last Sunday?
The segment called "How Dutch stormwater management could have mitigated damage from Hurricane Florence" highlighted the mission of Dutchman Henk Ovink; Ovink said "it's time to rewrite America's disaster playbook entirely."
From the 60 Minutes website:
"Ovink is the world's only water ambassador, a role given to him by the Dutch government. He advises the U.N., 35 individual countries, and a dozen U.S. cities. He travels the globe like a missionary preaching the gospel of flood prevention. advises the U.N., 35 individual countries, and a dozen U.S. cities."
"Ovink is the world's only water ambassador, a role given to him by the Dutch government. He advises the U.N., 35 individual countries, and a dozen U.S. cities. He travels the globe like a missionary preaching the gospel of flood prevention. advises the U.N., 35 individual countries, and a dozen U.S. cities."
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| Manmade dunes protect the town of Katwijk from the sea, underneath the dunes is a large parking garage |
Featured on the segment was former Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer! She told 60 Minutes about the genesis of the design competition, which brought Hoboken its $230M Rebuild By Design grant.
It was six years ago after Hurricane Sandy left Hoboken almost entirely underwater.
From the 60 Minutes website:
"Shaun Donovan, then secretary of Housing and Urban Development, tapped Ovink for President Obama's Hurricane Sandy task force. The two (Donovan and Ovink) came up with an idea for an international design competition to fix what Sandy had destroyed, following the Dutch philosophy: rebuild differently for the future.... Ovink helped convince the federal government to cough up almost a billion dollars for it.... A proposal that will protect Hoboken and its neighbors was awarded $230 million of the competition money. A Dutch design team came up with the winning plans, with a Dutch twist: a storm surge defense disguised as a park with a boathouse, benches and outdoor seating as barriers to keep the Hudson from drowning the city again. "
Note: renderings shown are not the final design... stay tuned for upcoming public meetings where you can share your thoughts and have input.
She looks amazing!!
ReplyDeleteShe must have given them lottery tickets to get on TV, or my name isn't Butthurt Bardnerd.
ReplyDeleteGetting Rebuild by Design completed on schedule is a top priority that everyone in Hoboken ought to share. We can't control the weather but it sure would be nice if it got finished the day before the next storm not the day after. Every mayoral candidate committed to that in the last election so hopefully all the factions will focus on what's best for Hoboken and this project will not get caught up in the usual BS.
ReplyDeleteWe can't control the weather, but one of the mayoral candidates in the last election boasted support from a former councilman infamous for saying the solution to flooding is watching the Weather Channel.
DeleteWell for some candidates, they won't know where they stand on that project until their contributors tell them how to vote. Others will just do the polar opposite of Ravi out of spite. Most of them don't care about the long-term implications of what they are doing.
DeleteI hope you're wrong about that. When opposition was being whipped up early on Councilwoman Fisher, Councilman Russo, Councilman Doyle and then Councilman Bhalla stood next to Mayor Zimmer in support. Some others waited to see which way the wind was blowing but nobody that I know of took a contrary public stand, and ultimately they all understood that obstructing this vital project was not a smart thing to do, either public policy wise or politically.
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