Hurricane Sandy on collision course with Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

Sandy an ‘extremely significant problem’ for Delaware

Sandy: An unprecedented path?

Here’s NOAA’s trajectory, Delaware’s right in the middle:

hurricanesandy

Also right in the middle are the nuclear plants:

salemi.jpg

In Delaware, we’re in Port Penn, right on the Delaware River across from the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear reactors, as it turns into the Delaware Bay.    Here’s what it looks like from above, click for larger jpeg, the “A” is Port Penn, the phallic land mass on the right is “Artificial Island” where the plants are, a sand dune out in the bay sucking the little fish into the cooling system:

portpenn

If the hurricane comes through, right up the Bay, we’re in a world of hurt.  It is SO flat there, not at all like the bluffs I’m used to.  If you go to google earth, and even on this satellite photo, you can see where the village used to be — it originally was a few blocks out into the water, and Alan thinks that it was a lot lower level than it is now.  There were dikes built, using slave labor to build it (Delaware is the south, remains, per Alan, a plantation state), homes were out there on stilts, salt hay growing to feed the animals, and all that is gone but some fragments of the pier pilings.   You can see the street next to the water, we’re the second existing street over, so that helps some, but the water level is right up near the surface, the geothermal bubbles up, and septic systems are a nightmare.   There are floods regularly, and State Road 9 out of town to the north is often covered in spring, and half covered other times, the roads are frequently closed to the north and south.   Here’s coming in to town on State Road 9 from the North (photo from DNREC report below):

9intopp

This is how it is NOW!  If the water level goes up, then what?  If there are more storms of higher intensity, then what?

Delaware is a state that is wisely planning for rising sea level:

DNREC’s Sea Level Advisory Committee

… and here’s their plan:

Preparing for Tomorrow’s High Tide: Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment for the State of Delaware Published July 30, 2012

I checked, did a search, and “nuclear” is not mentioned.  Ummmmm… hello?  Remember the Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant (extra credit if you know anything about the Ft. Calhoun interface!)?

ftcalhounflood

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