Mitigating the Effects of

Natural Disasters Through

Coastal Wetland
Conservation

(Skitterphoto, 2017)

Society of Wetland Scientists

Joseph Kerby
Contents

Figures 1

Abstract 2

The Effects of Natural Disasters on the Coast 3

Hurricane Katrina 4

Swamps, Wetlands, and More 5

Saving the Wetlands 6

The Significance of Wetlands in Storm Mitigation 7

Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet 8

Conclusion 9

References 10

Figures 1

Abstract 2

The Effects of Natural Disasters on the Coast

Hurricane Katrina 3

Swamps, Wetlands, and More

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 Wetlands: The Natural Storm Blocker

Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet 5

Saving the Wetlands 7

Conclusion 7

References 8

Figures

Figure 1: New Orleans Flooding after Hurricane Katrina 3

Figure 2: States with notable wetland loss, 1780-1980 5

Figure 3: Map of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet 6

Figure 1: New Orleans Flooding after Hurricane Katrina

Figure 2: States with notable wetland loss, 1780-1980

Figure 2: Map of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet 6

Abstract

Swamps and wetlands cover approximately 7% of the Earth’s surface (Cassidy). This
number is almost half of what it was in 1900 however, as wetlands are being destroyed at

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alarming rates. Without conservation efforts, population growth and the rise of sea levels could
cause the entire ecosystem to go extinct within 50 years (Cassidy). Luckily, conservation efforts
have been started and increasing awareness is turning the idea of swamps being dirty and
uninviting to what they really are: richly biodiverse ecosystems that provide benefits to millions
of species every day. On top of the ecological benefits, wetlands provide a first line of defense
against flooding and storm surges on the coast. They soak up rainwater and act as a buffer to
slow the storm, which can help reduce damage costs, decrease flooding, and help native wildlife
thrive. Wetlands need to be at the forefront of the conversation about storm mitigation in coastal
communities, and in order to reap the benefits of wetlands, conservation of them is important. In
order to fully protect coastal communities from natural disasters, wetlands must be conserved
and protected. This will reduce damage costs after storms, decrease flooding, and help wildlife
thrive in their native environments.

The Effects of Natural Disasters on the Coast

Natural disasters can come in many forms along the coastline. Hurricanes, tropical storms,
tsunamis, earthquakes, and other disasters can all have devastating effects along coastal
communities. The most obvious impacts can come from high winds, rain, and large waves. High
winds can cause damage to buildings, power lines, and can cause fallen trees. Waves can cause
beach and cliff erosion, damage to coral reefs, and other damage to buildings. Heavy rainfall can
cause flooding. Storm surges can also happen, where the sea level will rapidly rise as hurricanes
move inland. This can cause extensive damage to buildings along the coast and amplify any
flooding (Cambers, 4-9).

Other impacts that might not be as apparent include algae blooms and economic pressures.
Harmful algae blooms occur when colonies of microscopic algae grow out of control (NOAA).
These blooms can produce toxins that can are harmful and can kill fish, birds, or even humans.
Other blooms may be nontoxic, but can consume oxygen as they decay, causing more problems
for fish or other seagrass. These blooms can discolor the water and be quite malodorous. These
can all affect the tourism and fishing industry and have poor effects on the economy. On top of

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algae blooms, any natural disasters can have a major effect on the economy. The fishing industry
will lose days due to unsafe conditions; hotels may be closed for a considerable period; schools
and businesses may be forced to temporarily shut down (Cambers, 4-14). All of these and just
the general cost to clean up and repair any damages can be a huge burden on the economy,
costing billions of dollars a year in some cases.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina is one of the most infamous hurricanes to hit the United States. In
August of 2005, over 1.2 million people evacuated parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Around
100,000 people remained in New Orleans, and of those, around 10,000 sheltered in the
Superdome. Large waves and storm surges in Mississippi caused heavy flooding and caused
buildings along the coast to be completely destroyed. Levees in New Orleans failed which led to
flooding in over 80% of the city. As a result of the storm, more than 1800 people were killed.
Rapidly rising water caused by storm surges forced people onto their roofs where they became
trapped. Rescue efforts were delayed for days due to the extensive flooding and an estimated
800,000 housing units were destroyed, leaving many people homeless. The affect of the flooding
can be seen below in Figure 1. This became the costliest hurricane in United States history,
causing over $160 billion in damages and rescue efforts. (Hurricane Science – “Katrina
Impacts”)

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 Figure 1: New Orleans flooding after Hurricane Katrina (Shader – American Rivers)

Swamps, Wetlands, and More

For the sake of this paper, wetlands will Swamps and wetlands can be used to describe
any “in-between areas” or mixtures of water and earth., including swamps, bogs, floodplains,
mires, or others (Wilson, 61). Some of the more famous swamps include the Fertile Crescent
which saw the start of human civilization, the Great Dismal, located in Virginia and North
Carolina, and a large area of swamp and bayou located in Louisiana. One of the more famous
swamps is that of the bayou located in Louisiana, which if properly cared for could do a lot to
prevent storm damage. Not only that, but tThese swamps, especially those on the coast, provide
shelter for many marine creatures and an area for birds and other animals to feed. They also slow
coastal erosion, filter ocean water, and sustain a rich biodiversity (Wilson, 102). Swamps are
even an important step in the formation of peat, which later leads to coal. Using this, bogs in
Russia, the British Isles, and Scandinavia have been used as natural energy sources for centuries
(Wilson, 124). There are heaps of benefits to swamps that need to be considered when discussing
them as a solution to storm mitigation and in terms of using them, conservation is key.

Although they provide so much ecologically, swamps have long been considered unappealing
and problematic. In the English Dictionary, swamp is defined “to overwhelm with difficulties”,
while even words like ‘mired’ and ‘bogged down’ that similarly connect swamp-like
environments with some sort of burden (Wilson, 809). Hot and humid, and full of insects, foul
water, and dangerous animals like alligators or snakes, swamps have long been a source of
disdain. Legends, art, and movies have created a rhetoric of evil and horror around swamps
(Wilson, 910). This all leads to a stigma around swamps and a general want to remove them. As
time has gone on, more and more swamps have been destroyed for development of new
infrastructure and housing.

Although swamps have been destroyed at alarming rates,In recent years however, awareness has
begun to come around in recent years. People are beginning to understand the importance of
wetlands and governments are now taking steps to further protect them. This comes as some

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scholars believe that around 90% of the world’s wetlands have been either damaged or
destroyed, and in the United States alone, wetlands have been reduced to around half since the
colonial era (Wilson, 2252). Figure 2 below shows a map where notable wetland loss has
occurred in the United States since the 1780’s. Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan for example
includes many coastal restoration projects, while the Floodplains by Design program in
Washington state is helping build up natural flood protection (Shader).

Figure 2: States with notable wetland loss from the 1780’s to the 1980’s (US Geological
Survey)

Saving the Wetlands

In order to save wetlands for the future, more awareness needs to be created. The environmental
protection agency lists out multiple options for improving the state of wetlands around the world.

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New wetlands can be created, or existing wetlands can be improved, but all of it requires a level
of awareness or action by corporations. Restoration involves manipulating the physical,
chemical, and biological characteristics of an area that was once a wetland. Establishment does
the same thing, but to an area that did not previously exist as a wetland. Enhancement can be
used to intensify certain functions of a wetland, such as improving water quality or flood water
retention. Finally, protection and maintenance involve removing threats or preventing decline of
wetland conditions. This can be done by purchasing land to prevent construction, repairing water
control structures, or repairing structural protection such as a barrier island. (Environmental
Protection Agency, EPA)

Wetlands: The Natural Storm BlockerThe Significance of

Wetlands in Storm Mitigation

Wetlands act as a sort of sponge during hurricanes and other disasters. They slow storm
surges and can stop water from making it onshore. As storms move inland, swamps can soak up
torrential rain and prevent flooding further in. They act as a kind of first line of defense in
stopping the storm. The benefits extend beyond stopping rain and waves from crashing ashore. A
study by Scientific Reports concluded that wetlands along the east coast helped reduce the cost
of damages by 22 percent during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 (Akpan). Wetlands do not solve all
the problems however. They cannot soak up an infinite amount of water and therefore, the
preservation of wetlands should be seen as a first step. Other measures should be in place, but the
wetlands can go a long way in helping the problem.

Hurricane Katrina is an example of where wetlands could have been used to mitigate effects of
the storm. American Rivers, an organization pushing for river conservation, said “The flooding
of New Orleans that followed was a tragic and appalling disaster. But it was not a natural
disaster. Poor project planning, flawed project design, misplaced priorities, and the destruction of
the city’s natural flood protection – Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, were the root causes of the
city’s ruin” (Samet and Wu, 4). Apart from poor planning and construction of levees, the city

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was missing a large portion of its wetlands that used to exist. This led to much less storm
protection than they could have had . Thereand there is no telling how many lives or homes
could have been saved if the Louisiana wetlands were able to help soak up the storm.

Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet

One of the biggest failures that led to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina was the construction
of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or MRGO, shown below in Figure 3. This was the creation
of navigational channel through 16,000 acres of marshland. Not only did it provide saltwater
access to the wetland regions, but the material dug out was also deposited in nearby wetlands,
disrupting those ecosystems, and killing wildlife inhabited there. When Hurricane Katrina hit the
coast, the MRGO essentially provided an open path for the storm to reach New Orleans. It’s
estimated that the storm surge increased by 300% due to the canal, and that without the MRGO,
flooding could have been decreased by almost 80% (Oveisi).

Figure 3: Map of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (Oveisi)

Saving the Wetlands

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 In order to save wetlands for the future, more awareness needs to be created. The
environmental protection agency lists out multiple options for improving the state of wetlands
around the world. New wetlands can be created, or existing wetlands can be improved, but all of
it requires a level of awareness or action by corporations. Restoration involves manipulating the
physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of an area that was once a wetland.
Establishment does the same thing, but to an area that did not previously exist as a wetland.
Enhancement can be used to intensify certain functions of a wetland, such as improving water
quality or flood water retention. Finally, protection and maintenance involve removing threats or
preventing decline of wetland conditions. This can be done by purchasing land to prevent
construction, repairing water control structures, or repairing structural protection such as a
barrier island. (Environmental Protection Agency, EPA)

Conclusion

The destruction of swamps and wetlands poses a serious threat, not only to the ecosystems that
live and thrive off of swamps, but to coastal communities protected by them. Getting rid of
wetlands in order to build new infrastructure and houses has caused serious damage. So much so
that almost half of the world’s wetlands have been depleted. When strong and powerful storms
come through the coast, people are less protected now than they used to be. Wetlands provide a
natural barrier to storms and can greatly reduce flooding. In examples like Hurricane Katrina,
New Orleans became almost completely flooded and over 1800 people were killed. In order to
prevent this in the future, an active conservation effort of wetlands must be pursued. Studies
have shown that active wetlands reduce flooding by great amounts and reduce damage costs in
the long run. Any system that protects people, the environment, and the economy is a system that
needs to be upheld and protected. In the case of hurricanes and tsunamis, this system is wetlands.

Resources

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Akpan, Nsikan. “Wetlands Stopped $625 Million in Property Damage during Hurricane Sandy.
Can They Help Houston?” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 31 Aug. 2017,
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/wetlands-stopped-650-million-property-damage-
hurricane-sandy-can-help-houston.

Cambers, Gillian. Coastal Hazards and Vulnerability. 2001,

https://www.oas.org/cdcm_train/courses/course1/Chapter%204-Coastal%20Hazards
%20and%20Vulnerability.pdf.

Cassidy, Emily. “Map of the Month: Where Are the World's Wetlands?” Resource Watch Blog, 4
May 2020, https://blog.resourcewatch.org/2019/04/17/map-of-the-month-where-are-the-
worlds-wetlands/.

Gibbens, Sarah. “The World's Wetlands Are Slipping Away. This Vibrant Wildlife Sanctuary
Underscores the Stakes.” Environment, National Geographic, 4 May 2021,
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/world-wetlands-are-slipping-
away-agusan-marsh-underscores-stakes.

“Katrina Impacts.” Hurricanes: Science and Society,

http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/studies/katrinacase/impacts/#:~:text=Besides
%20the%20death%20toll%2C%20hurricane,billion%20(2005%20US%20dollars).

Oviesi, Nicole. “Remembering Hurricane Katrina.” Ubique,

https://ubique.americangeo.org/map-of-the-week/map-of-the-week-remembering-
hurricane-katrina/.

Shader, Eileen. “Preventing Another ‘Unnatural Disaster’ Ten Years after Hurricane Katrina.”
American Rivers, 17 May 2019, https://www.americanrivers.org/2015/08/preventing-
another-unnatural-disaster-ten-years-after-hurricane-katrina/.

“Technical Aspects of Wetlands History of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States.”

History of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States, US Geological Survey,
https://water.usgs.gov/nwsum/WSP2425/history.html.

“Wetlands Restoration Definitions and Distinctions.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency,

https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/wetlands-restoration-definitions-and-distinctions.

“What Is a Harmful Algal Bloom?” What Is a Harmful Algal Bloom? | National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, https://www.noaa.gov/what-is-harmful-algal-bloom.

Wilson, Anthony David. Swamp: Nature and Culture. Reaktion Books Ltd, 2018.

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