And flood walls would look like to keep waters out in case we get major flooding in Lower Manhattan in any kind of future storm. Superstorm sandy now considered the secondcostliest storm in u. S. History, and it took its toll on the countrys biggest city. In parts of Lower Manhattan, 14 feet of water. Seven subway lines under the east river were shut down. There we go. The mayor helped put together go bags with flashlights and batteries and announced new york city will spend 100 million on a new effort building berms and flood walls to try to hold back the east river. For people in this community, its very vivid what it means, that there is a still threat out there. And we dont take any of it lightly. We dont yet know what the berms and flood walls will look like, but the city is spending that extra 100 million, hoping to attract even more federal money anything to protect lives and some of the worlds most expensive real estate. That could definitely happen again cause were in a red zone. Its like a hill it goes down. So, im on the top. Like, all these other buildings back here get flooded. Do you worry about it happening again . Yeah, im scared of working out on the river because [indistinct] the mayors announcement comes on the 10th anniversary of katrina and only a couple months from the third anniversary of sandy storms that have forever changed america and how we respond to warmer, more volatile weather. We learned some painful lessons from katrina, and we learned some painful lessons from sandy, and were trying to do something about those lessons because we have not solved global warming. We know that theres so much more to do. So, can we protect ourselves . And how to do that and do it well can we really be stronger than the storm . Joining us this morning to discuss this in depth daniel zarrilli, director of the Mayors Office of recovery and resiliency, and jonathan jenkins, the assistant commissioner for logistics for new york citys office of emergency management, better known to most of us as oem. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Thanks for having us. So, can we protect ourselves . Lets start with you. So, Hurricane Sandy really highlighted a lot of our vulnerabilities that we face due to both coastal storms, as well as sealevel rise, and what the citys done is put in place a comprehensive resiliency plan to make that sure we can both reduce that risk and get back to business better and stronger in the event of another disaster. So were pursuing a 20 billion Resiliency Program all across the city, and the announcement in Lower Manhattan is a key piece of that program, where were investing 100 million and looking to attract additional dollars from the federal government to pursue a series of integrated floodprotectionsystem investments that can reduce that risk in Lower Manhattan. Before we get to the specifics of that, 100 million is a whole lot of money, but i was an economics and accounting major, and im thinking that thats not gonna pay for everything, so really youre spending this money completely dependent on getting some federal money to do this, but theres no guarantee of that. So, we are entering whats called the National Disaster resilience competition, where we are seeking funds from the department of housing and urban development, hud, where they are offering a maximum grant of potentially 500 million to the winning applicants, and so were looking to show our commitment to this and to leverage that up to achieve even more dollars. cause youre right its gonna take more than that, but were gonna continue to take the steps forward on planning, community engagement, and design to make this more of a reality, and then were gonna be making those investments. Jonathan, youre with oem. This a big gamble because theres no guarantee that youll get that money, the city will get all that money. On the other hand, its a big economic engine in Lower Manhattan that drives much of the economy across the country, and youre also gambling that the feds will like that and think thats a good investment to put into it. Absolutely, and, you know, the federal Government Funds a lot of our recovery and preparedness efforts. You know, for us, they fund a lot of our ready new york activities and a lot of our Planning Efforts, and so our office dovetails very nicely into the work that dans office is undertaking in terms of recovery and resiliency. For us, we are preparedness, and preparedness begins at home, and theres a direct relationship between preparedness and resiliency. To be better prepared, you have to be resilient, and to be resilient, you have to be better prepared, so i think that this is a really Good Opportunity for everybody involved. So, before we get into the weeds or the marshes here the rising waters your two offices then Work Together when you guys come up with plans . When youre coming up with a plan, you run it by that office . Yeah, very close coordination. Their office integrates things called the Hazard Mitigation plan into our longterm Resiliency Programs, so theres a crosspollination of efforts. Its a really strong the focus is on Lower Manhattan, but there are other focusing on. Manhattan. What do these berms and walls look like . Are we putting up a great wall of china . City . What are we looking at . No, so its fundamental to our vision is that we do not want to cut ourselves off from the waterfront and just build a wall around the entire waterfront and never be able to enjoy that. What were looking to do is to put investments in place what were calling integrated flood protection that integrates into the neighborhood, reduces risk when there is a flooding event, but also serves as a Community Amenity in all those times when there isnt a flooding event, and so building in landscaping features, perhaps deployable systems that can be put in place in advance of a storm that can then become the flood protection. And thats what were gonna be designing over the next several months with a team of consultants that were looking to bring on board to really put it into practice what thats going to look like, because its gonna look different in every part of the city. I remember under mayor bloomberg, there was, after sandy, a proposal to have grates in the street, and then they would rise up, lift up itll have some sort of hydraulic system in case we needed to wall that off. Is it much different than that . So, those are the types of things that were still taking a hard look at, and now, with this commitment of dollars by mayor de blasio, were gonna be taking the steps to start designing those systems in Lower Manhattan. So it wont cost us 100 million to build it will cost 100 million perhaps to design and run it through all the procedures. Thats probably a little too high for just the design costs, but, yes, were taking the steps now to do the design. Were engaging with the public, which is really critical, is that we engage with the local communities and stakeholders and local leaders into this climateadaptation process to make sure were investing in the way that makes the most sense for the neighborhoods. And so this is gonna be a public process were gonna hear from the public on this . Yeah, i mean, just like dan mentioned. Our Hazard Mitigation plan, for example, there is a Public Comment period for that with their work. It relates to our response activities, as well, and our Planning Efforts because i think were all adapting to rising sea levels, the Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy. And i think that you can back as far as hurricane irene and lessons we learned from hurricane katrina. I think that, with changes in environment, i think its gonna affect all city agencies and how we respond with all our partners. Just for the record, meteorologists call it Superstorm Sandy because, when it hit here, it wasnt necessarily a hurricane, and it was more complicated than that. You called it a hurricane. I think its just terminology. I mean, yes, it was very complicated. I think that it was a changing storm the entire event, but i think that, with the lessons that weve from that, weve changed and enhanced our evacuation zones in the city. We used to have zones a, b, and c. Now its a little more detailed and scientific. Theres zones 1 through 6. We can order evacuations and plan more accordingly, and that was directly related to lessons we learned during sandy. Since we have never done this before and youre gonna have Public Comment. When we rebuilt ground zero in Lower Manhattan and we now see whats going on there it took a decade, more than a decade for it to happen, and some of its still not done. Are we gonna be faced with this . Are we gonna have several other storms before something is finally in place . Well, definitely hopefully not yes to that question, because we are working aggressively to put in place the plans we have now. And it could take several years, but its also this is not a oneanddone sort of investment that were talking about. We want to continue to adapt, and were gonna continue monitoring sealevel rise over time to make sure we can continue to build on those investments as the sealevel rise becomes more and more real and whether its moving faster or slower than we expect. There are some people who say rising. They are against the concept of Climate Change or against that as the reason for this. You guys have just and we heard the mayor said youre accepting that as fact, right . Weve already seen a foot of sealevel rise in new york since 1900, and thats only looking to accelerate. We work with a group of academics called the new York City Panel on Climate Change that advise us on the projections and what its gonna mean locally here. And were projecting that, by the 2050s, we could see, at the high end of the projections, 2 feet of sealevel rise here in new york city, and thats what were planning for. Frightening thought. Some of the critics i talk to say that hardening the lower part of manhattan does little for exposing the rest of the city. How are you addressing the rest of the city, like on the atlantic side . Yeah, so, weve got programs that we are doing, advancing Major Projects on the coast of Staten Island, on the east shore. Were working with the army corps there. Were working with the army corps on the rockaway peninsula and in jamaica bay. Weve got investments happening right now in sea gate on the coney island peninsula, and weve got other projects that were developing in red hook, in breezy point, in hunts point. All over the city, theres Major Investments that are happening to reduce this risk. One sea expert i talked to talked about horizontal levees, and im not sure what that means, but it means restoring tidal marshes around the city and airports and infrastructure, including what you said, the rockaway and jamaica bay. And Staten Island, what do you do . You know, after sandy, there were a lot of really indepth studies and stories that were reported about Staten Island and what it was meant to be, a sponge kind of thing to protect us, and now we have all that development. Well, so, we are working to make sure that were reducing risk for where we have people now, and youre right the investments in wetlands and other natural infrastructure is a key part of our program, particularly in places like jamaica bay or in parts of Staten Island, as well. Lets talk about preparedness because, you know, your office, oem, spends a lot of time talking about preparedness. Are new yorkers prepared . Have we learned lessons from 9 11, from the power outage in 03, from Superstorm Sandy . Have we learned those lessons . I think so, you know, and september is National Preparedness month. Weve been working pretty closely with fema and the ad council. This Years Campaign is, dont wait. Communicate. You know, we want to target safety and preparedness for all new yorkers, and that starts at home, from the youngest to the most senior. And our ready new york campaign, you know, we go out, we do events, and during september, were gonna be highlighting a lot more in terms of Public Outreach and communication. You know, we want to make sure that folks understand and have an Emergency Preparedness plan at home, know how to communicate with their family members, have go bags. Do you guys have go bags . Are you ready at home . Yeah. I do. I have plenty of duct tape from a long time ago still ready if you guys want to have any. These storms of the century are happening more frequently. Are we gonna see more in the next 10 years . So what the climate scientists are telling us is that the frequency of the most intense storms is getting more frequent, so its the bigger storms that are becoming more frequent, but were also seeing the chronic effects of sealevel rise, and that is arguably much more challenging to deal with cause it doesnt stop. Well, you guys figure out the berms and the walls, and well have to just make sure we have go bags and water and Food Supplies for our family. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Appreciate it. Dan zarrilli of the Mayors Office of recovery and of oem. Thank you. Tackling. When we come back, were gonna switch topics and talk about a silent killer aneurysms. They often strike without warning, and it was indeed a brain aneurysm that killed our friend and colleague, Lisa Colagrossi of eyewitness news. Coming up next her husband action. He joins us along with a neurosurgeon to discuss a medical problem that hits tens of thousands of americans every year, many of them fatally. Welcome back to upclose. Were gonna talk about a health issue that affects so many and for us here at eyewitness news, its also very personal. Last march, my colleague Lisa Colagrossi, returning to the station after doing a morning live shot, like she did every morning she was talking, and she was laughing with a photographer and then, without warning, she suddenly suffered a brain aneurysm. She was just 49 when she died. 30,000 to 40,000 people in the u. S. Suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm every year. That is one in every 18 or so minutes. About 50 of all ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal, and of those who survive, 66 suffer some kind of permanent neurological deficit all very scary. And then there is this last statistic its estimated 6 million americans have an unruptured brain aneurysm, or about one out of every 50 people, and that is indeed why they call it a silent killer. Our friend lisa was one of those 6 million, and now, in her memory and in her honor, her husband, todd crawford, is on a mission, a personal crusade, to raise awareness about brain aneurysms and to raise money for research, which is horribly deficient in studying. Todd joins us this morning, as does dr. J mocco. Hes professor of neurosurgery at mount sinai hospital. Hes also vice chair for education of neurosurgery there. And, gentlemen, thank you so much. And, todd, it is great to see you, and it goes without saying not like you, of course, and your boys but we miss lisa so terribly, and i know you do. Terribly, and if i said we were doing okay, itd be a slight lie. Its a very big adjustment. The boys are devastated at not ever having their mom again, but its a well be okay. Its just a very long, slow process, and were adjusting to our new normal. Tell us about davis and evan, because they were our viewers responded so lovingly to what happened, and they were affected by her death, as well. Tremendously, and the outpouring of love and support across the country was tremendous, but particularly here at her station. And, you know, obviously, its an enormous loss for them, and, you know, the pendulum swings. Its like a roller coaster emotionally from highs to lows. But they just attended a grief camp up in maine last week called experience camps, which is tremendous, and bonded with a lot of kids up there who were in the same situation. And, you know, theyll be okay longer term, but its gonna be a very, very rocky road and years before they really begin to look forward. Ive talked to so many parents who have lost their children they have to raise by themselves because the spouse has died. 9 11 was a great example of that. And i know its difficult cause youre grieving, too, but youre also having to be a dad and the sole parent, and youre thinking about them and less so about yourself. So, when Something Like this happens, bill, you can either go one of two ways. You can either climb into a dark, deep hole and stay there and a lot of days, ill be honest, are very difficult to get out of bed or you can try to bring meaning to Something Like this and affect positive change and try to save lives of others going forwards, to spare other families from the heartbreak and pain that weve experienced. And ive got to be a role model, as you said, to those two boys, and i want to show them how to take on adversity head on. So, at some point in this grieving process, which has not been that long less than seven months, less than six months. Five. Five months. Yeah, 5 months so far. It just seems like a long time ago. Yeah. You made the decision to turn your grief into action, and thats what youre doing. Why did you decide to focus on this . And what caused you, besides lisas death what made you say, oh, my gosh, nobody knows about this . I think two t