Recently the tides rose in Alexandria, VA. First there were the remnants of a tropical storm. You could see how the Potomac River had risen above its banks all along the park were I take my daily lunchtime walk at work. I don't even remember the rain being so bad this time but was shocked the weekday after I returned to work. All along the park above the banks was a high water mark strewn with garbage, as if the river had suddenly risen up and revolted against the garbage that was thrown in it and had massively thrown up along the shore. "Here's your garbage back, you sons ' of bitches," the river seemed to say. I even asked a local walking her dog what had happened. She said, "Saturday night this was all flooded, they usually take care of it quickly, I don't know what happened this time." Typical rich, it's always the poor's fault. The workmen employed by the city weren't working fast enough to hide the truth for her.
I did think about global warming then, as I've done when visiting the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C., and seen the tidal waters breech their banks on a normal day during a drought. But I put it aside as a product of this tropical storm that went through. We've seen floods in our lower lying areas all my life in the D.C. area. And coastal flooding along Alexandria is not unusual.
Then the following week the National Weather Service issued a warning that an "onshore flow plus the effects of the full moon will cause costal flooding, particularly in Annapolis and Alexandria." Again I went for my 1:30 pm walk and again the trash was thrown up over the banks, not as bad as the last time, but just enough to make you think. How many times is this going to be a regular feature of my daily stroll. Not to mention the fact that some of the mounds of trash were still there from the last time, being just too much for the city's crew to keep up with.
So armed with this and four hours of watching "When the Levees Broke" makes me wonder if we do have the national will to maintain our coastal areas against the inevitable damage that will occur because of global warming. And what would become of the million + dollar homes being built within yards of this coastline?
Because Alexandria, unlike New Orleans has its most valuable homes in the lower lying regions near the water. Sure you go to the inland neighborhoods like Rosemont, where I grew up, and the river would never breach those fine, large Victorian homes that my grandfather built along Russell Road, but in the Old Town area, the vast numbers of homes that range in the million dollar value are in the danger zone of the good old Potomac. And someday, she's going to really exact her revenge.
Comments