If a CAT3 hurricane hits NYC, Long Island City is potentially screwed.

NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map

With all of the recent hurricane activity, looks like analysts are calculating the risk for NYC in the unfortunate case that we get hit by a CAT3 or worse. It looks like the first to go under would be lower Manhattan, followed by riverfront neighborhoods heading northward… which includes our little town, especially Hunters Point. In fact, according to the hurricane evacuation map, all of Hunters Point is either Zone A or B, meaning we’re the first to have to evacuate in the case of hurricane.

Rainy daze on 5th St, Hunters Point

“Several recent studies have suggested that global warming and an accompanying rise in ocean temperatures might increase both the strength and frequency of hurricanes. The changing climate could also result in higher sea levels. Adding as little as 1.5 feet of sea level rise by the 2050s to the surge for a Category 3 hurricane on a worst-case storm track as described above would cause extensive flooding in many parts of the city,” suggests Climate Systems Research at Columbia University.

“Areas potentially under water include the Rockaways, Coney Island, much of southern Brooklyn and Queens, portions of Long Island City, Astoria, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, lower Manhattan and eastern Staten Island from Great Kills Harbor north to the Verrazano Bridge.” The probability of such a disaster remains low, but it remains well within the bounds of possibility.”

As a side note, it was interesting to learn that in the aftermath of Katrina, many homeowners who had hurricane insurance on their property but not flood insurance, were shafted out of their insurance claims since most of the damage was deemed to have been caused by the flooding from the broken levee. Just a word to the wise for property owners in LIC.

• Geography puts NYC in the ‘danger zone’ [Daily News]

• NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map [pdf]

• NYC Hurricane Guide [pdf]