Flooding. Tornadoes. Days of power outages. What should NE Ohio be doing to shore up its infrastructure? Editorial Board Roundtable

As of late Wednesday afternoon, more than 350 FirstEnergy customers in Northeast Ohio were still without power after tornadoes, damaging 70-90 mph straight-line storms and heavy rains rolled through the region almost a week earlier, flooding parts of Interstate 90 and requiring motorist rescues. Many homeowners and public officials were still clearing the downed limbs and trees and other debris, or calling insurance agents, or writing big checks to basement waterproofers.

Have our weather patterns turned a corner? Is this onslaught of deluges the new normal in Greater Cleveland as the global climate virtually everywhere shows signs of stress?

What are our society’s obligations as a whole to prepare and modify infrastructure to mitigate the individual impacts? Specifically, what can we do in Northeast Ohio to gird ourselves for a climate that is likely to be far wetter, hotter and with more violent storms than in the past?

Modeling of climate change has shown Greater Cleveland as one of the more fortunate regions, thanks largely to Lake Erie with its plentiful freshwater and moderating impact on our microclimate, making summers cooler and winters milder. But modeling is only as good as the data and models used. When was the last time parts of I-90 were under five or six feet of water? When was the last time a tornado ripped most of the roof off a church in the heart of Cleveland?

So what should we in Northeast Ohio be doing to get ready for more of the same? What are society’s joint obligations to prepare so safety services, sewer and stormwater systems, the power grid and other essentials are equipped to withstand many such deluges? The Editorial Board Roundtable offers its thoughts.

Leila Atassi, manager public interest and advocacy:

Fortifying the power grid and improving our sewer systems are important, though they’re the low-hanging fruit on the tree of solutions in this scenario. More importantly, society’s joint obligation is to support aggressive climate action plans on the local, state and federal levels that will bring us closer to carbon neutrality — and further from global catastrophe.

Ted Diadiun, columnist:

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” wrote journalist Charles Dudley Warner (not Mark Twain!) in the late 19th century. Not as true today. We can congratulate ourselves for choosing to live in Northeast Ohio, and be grateful we live in a time when being without electricity for a few days is considered a “hardship.” Oh, and buy a generator.

Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:

Problems with the power grid are inexcusable, but Ohio’s regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, doesn’t seem to do much. What individuals can do on their own about environmental challenges is limited pending the universalization of electric vehicles. One thing over which Ohioans do have some control is the protection of Lake Erie — assuming, that is, that someone at the Statehouse is willing to take on the factory farm lobby.

Eric Foster, columnist:

The short answer is, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Climate change is a global issue which can only truly be tackled from a global perspective. I hope we can corral a global will, but I have my doubts. In the meantime, plans should be made to protect and preserve infrastructure in case of catastrophic weather events.

Lisa Garvin, editorial board member:

First of all, state officials must stop pretending that natural gas is green energy and make a serious commitment to renewable power. Second, municipalities must stop deferring long-overdue water and sewer improvements and find the funding, even if it’s a tax hike. Finally, voters must approve capital improvement levies to harden infrastructure against climate change, or face the expensive consequences.

Mary Cay Doherty, editorial board member:

Public utilities must do their part to maintain their lines and infrastructure. But if we want to keep the lights on, we cannot turn off the coal and natural gas spigots before other technologies can generate the same, or greater, amounts of electricity. Energy policies rooted in environmental fantasies are more calamitous than the weather.

Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director:

This question wouldn’t even have to be posed if our elected leaders thought more than one election cycle ahead. Of course, it’s our collective obligation to shore up the infrastructure and safety services on which our society, and modern civilization, relies. The horrors of a Hawaiian wildfire that spread so quickly it devoured a whole town, killing children at home and motorists fleeing, should galvanize us all to action.

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