Jeremy Wiles with watertight closure company Walz & Krenzer demonstrates a miniature flood gate. Photo: Jay Willett.
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Just hours after Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Boston held a flood risk seminar Friday at City Hall Plaza.
“Deployables Day” is the first of its kind, educating Boston residents about what they can expect the city to do in the case of a flood.
“I think the Northeast has typically thought of themselves as somewhat immune to some of the damage,” said Arnon Rosan, president of Garrison Flood Control.
Read More: Hurricane Helene Impacts Travel For Those Flying Out Of Logan Friday
The seminar included demonstrations of potential flood risk designs, such as the “flood break gate,” a pillar that floats up and protects homes and other buildings.
Another design was the “guppy max,” a large orange trapezoid that fills with water and keeps additional water away from structures.
Jeremy Wiles with watertight closure company Walz & Krenzer was just one of the flood experts at the seminar. He showed attendees a miniature version of flood gates across City Hall.
“We’ve got an old city that wasn’t designed for this. We’re able to design custom packages to retrofit old buildings,” Wiles said.
Walz & Krenzer Vice President Tom Themel was behind the design of the floodgates around the Fenway MBTA station.
“We want to make sure that people can travel as soon as possible after the storms,” Themel said.
Rosan emphasized that storms in general are getting more intense, and cities have to be prepared.
“I think we’re seeing that these 100-year storms are coming every couple of years now,” Rosan said.
WBZ's Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.
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