Dinah Voyles Pulver and Doug Fraser, USA TODAY
Published
9:34 pm UTC Jan. 18, 2021
The Atlantic Ocean poured into streets and neighborhoods from Maine to Florida during seasonal high tides last fall, and scientists feared it would only get worse. But now, with Joe Biden becoming president, climate experts and government officials have a simple reason to hope for help in combating the problem.
They’ll finally have a president who actually believes sea levels are rising.
“We’re eagerly looking forward to change and action that will assist states in preparing themselves and their residents,” said Ann Phillips, a retired Navy rear admiral who serves as special assistant to Virginia’s governor for coastal adaptation and protection. “It all starts with acknowledging climate change is happening and the science is real.”
Dewberry Announces Promotions in Fairfax, Virginia Published January 18, 2021
Done
Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has announced the promotion of nearly 50 employees nationwide, including 9 in the firmâs headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. The promotions coincide with Dewberryâs ongoing expansion of engineering, architectural, and consulting services in the D.C. metropolitan region, where the firm has practiced since 1956.
These promotions include:
Jean Huang, PE, CFM, ENV SP, Stephen Kalaf, PMP, CFM, and Mathew Mampara, PE have been promoted to vice president. Huang is the program management director for the resilience solutions group. She earned both her bachelorâs (1998) and masterâs (2002) degrees in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. Huang is a member of Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM), New York State Floodplain and Stormwater Managers Association, and the Project Management Institute (PMI). She
Climate change causing one-third of flood damage in United States, Stanford study finds [San Francisco Chronicle]
Jan. 12 Increasingly strong storms are responsible for more than a third of the nation’s flood costs, swelling the tab by billions of dollars a year as climate change continues to fuel more extreme weather, according to new research at Stanford University.
The research, which is among the first to put a price tag on heavier rainfall, found that the changing weather is responsible for $75 billion of the cumulative $199 billion of U.S. flood damage between 1998 and 2017. Many of the losses over that period were in California.
As flood risks rise in the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should update flood maps, set tougher standards for floodplain construction and prepare for climate change, environmental and planning groups urged in a petition.