Daily Times

Starting as a flood, Harvey was calamitous and gravely ruinoustempest: the first major hurricaneto make landfall in the United Statesafter more than a decade since Wilma in 2005. In a four-day timespan, numerous zones got more than 40 inches (1,000 mm) of rain as the framework wandered over eastern Texas and contiguous waters, causing cataclysmic flooding. With crest gatherings of 51.88 in (1,318 mm), Harvey is the rainiesthurricane ever recorded in the contiguous United States. The resulting surges immersed a huge number of homes, dislodged more than 30,000 individuals, and incited more than 17,000 salvages.

Hurricane Harvey has destroyed hundreds of lives until now. Nearly 70 are dead, and those who are alive will constantly live in the fear of the wrath of mother nature. This is not the first time Houston has faced such a devastating situation. People are evacuating their houses as the water level is still very high, and livingthere is no less than living in a death well. It’s hard to grasp the scale of the flooding and decimation that Hurricane Harvey and its outcome are unleashing on the Houston zone. Climate specialists call the Hurricane exceptional, and take note that it’s gone past even the most cynical conjectures. In the last retribution, it’s sure that Harvey will be grouped a 500-year flood – and perhaps a 1,000-year flood.

It is time that the US follows in the footsteps of Japan,which has faced such challenges quite frequently, and came up with the mind blowing idea of a flood control system

Theoretically, a 500-year flood is something that has a 1-in-500 chance of occurring in any given year. The issue is that 500-year floods are going on more regularly than likelihood predicts – particularly in Houston. Also particularly in Houston, counteractive action hasn’t advanced to recognize that a “500-year” flood isn’t generally a 1-in-500 shot any longer.For this reason, it is time that the US follows in the footsteps of Japan,whichhas faced such challenges quite frequently,and came up with the mind blowing idea of a flood control system.

Japan now has the world’s largest underground floodwater diversion facility, built to mitigate overflowing of the city’s major waterways and rivers during rain, floods and hurricane seasons. Installed with humongous pipes and giant pumps which pump out nearly 200 tonnes of water within minutes, Japan has managed to save its citizens from the hassle of evacuation in times of need.

With a cost of $3 billion, this mega structure has taken 13 years to complete since 1993-2006.The underlying water tank extends more than 320 feet long and towers higher than a five-story building. When it’s all put together, the complex features five huge shafts that can move water along a passage that extends almost four miles.

At the point when the tanks and passages fill, engineers can turn on the core of the framework, which is a progression of four turbines fueled by stream motors like those utilised as part of a Boeing 737 plane. The turbines are then ready to quickly pipe flood waters to the closeby Edo River. It’s significant that this piece of rural Tokyo can barely be contrasted with the thick underground of New York City, which is a labyrinth of tram burrows, sewage frameworks and electrical cables.

The specialists in Japan are the first to bring up that their framework which, while amazing, is intended to manage overwhelming rains – and that it would battle to adapt to hurricanes like Harvey, Irma and Sandy originating from the Atlantic Ocean into New York’s Upper Bay. This underground wonder has the power move architects to search for better approaches to endeavor to contain Mother Nature later on.It is time for the US to take actual measures for the lives of its citizens and for the benefit of its economy.

The writer is a student of law at IIUI

Published in Daily Times, September 17^th 2017.