Weather Break

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This week’s tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico reminds us of the importance of coastal wetlands in protecting a region from the impact of the storm surge, which is typically the most expensive part of a hurricane.  While some storms’ impacts are greatly largely blunted by extensive, healthy salt marshes, the Katrina catastrophe has been blamed in part on damage done to wetlands by human encroachment.  In this classic episode from the archives of Weather Break, we take a look at how wetlands protect structures further inland from the worst parts of the storm.

Links

Here is an opinion piece about the importance of wetlands in mitigating hurricane damage.  This story from ABC News mentions the significance of the wetlands, too.