A record storm surge caused by a recent winter storm produced significant flooding in downtown Boston and renewed calls for the construction of flood mitigation infrastructure.
Ocean water swamped areas near Boston Harbor and then froze solid. One flood mitigation proposal is a $10 billion sea barrier to be built in the harbor.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh linked the event to global warming, and warned developers to take the possibility of more flooding in the future into account when proposing projects near the waterfront. Recent projects in the city’s booming Seaport area did fare well during the storm, though.
Many were designed with mechanical systems on the roofs instead of basements, and some sites had had been landscaped to sit several feet above the natural ground level.
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