Reshaping how the nation rebuilds and takes climate change impacts into account means that no matter where the next extreme storm hits, the transportation system will be better prepared and more resilient.

Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record and the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, resulted in an extensive, multiagency, multistate federal emergency response effort, according to Vinn White, senior policy advisor at the U.S. DOT Office of Transportation Policy. In the aftermath of Sandy, federal programs have evolved, said White, who recently spoke at Volpe as part of the speaker series Transportation System Resilience, Extreme Weather, and Climate Change.

Prior to Hurricane Sandy’s landfall, U.S. DOT’s National Response Program staff deployed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National and Regional Response Coordination Centers and to their joint field offices in New York and New Jersey. White described the significant response of U.S. DOT agencies, including tens of millions of dollars in emergency relief funds. These funds were quickly provided to impacted states, the fast restoration of air navigation systems, coordination on emergency repair of gas distribution lines, damage assessments, and emergency relief support—including the feeding and housing of nearly 1,000 emergency responders.

Initial cost estimates post-Sandy were staggering and estimates grew after the water receded and engineers could better assess the damage to urban transit and commuter rail systems, the highway system, Amtrak and freight rail, the aviation system, and the pipeline system, said White.

After the storm's impact and immediate recovery, White helped lead U.S. DOT’s long-term response to Sandy and represented U.S. DOT on the federal agency Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, which was established by President Obama in 2012. The task force was charged with identifying and removing obstacles to resilient rebuilding in a manner that addresses existing and future risks and promotes the long-term sustainability of communities and ecosystems.

“If you build the same thing over and over, you’re going to get the same result. We’d just be throwing good money after bad if we keep rebuilding in the same way,” said Vinn White, senior policy advisor at the U.S. DOT Office of Transportation Policy.

Eight Guiding Principles for Climate Change Adaptation

White discussed how U.S. DOT is integrating the consideration of our changing climate into its planning, operations, policies, and programs, and has adopted eight guiding principles for climate change adaptation:

1. Adopt integrated approaches
2. Prioritize the most vulnerable
3. Use best-available science
4. Build strong partnerships
5. Apply risk-management methods and tools
6. Apply ecosystem-based approaches
7. Maximize mutual benefits
8. Continuously evaluate performance

“The government wants to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said White. “These are the principles that guide us…and I think you’ve seen them done well in the Sandy context…”

Resiliency post-Sandy was also about ensuring that climate change would play a central role in U.S. DOT planning going forward. That included adding infrastructure resiliency considerations to U.S. DOT’s Tiger Grant program, which awards money to transportation agencies for a variety of projects.

“If you build the same thing over and over, you’re going to get the same result. We’d just be throwing good money after bad if we keep rebuilding in the same way,” said White.