Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Sea level rise to flood Tottenham by end of decade

Over the past 24 hours or so, the media has been awash with NASA's new flood projection tool and, recently we've all seen areas nearby to us awash with floodwaters.

Using NASA's tool to zoom in closer to home, tells us that apparently sea level rise will mean that flood levels reach Tottenham High Road by the end of this decade.

Nothing like looming troubles coming close to home to reinforce the urgency of the situation.

You can play with the tool yourself at Climate Central.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on August 12, 2021 at 18:14

For all in Harringay and St Anns who'd like to keep their feet dry but haven't built their Ark yet, I'm thinking of selling on the Real Harringay Heights (Wightman Road West, between Mattison and Duckett) around 2031/2. I think the railway cutting will hold any overspill from the Hog's Back and the Ladder Rung Roads should reabsorb all water that makes its way to Wightman. Think about it.

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Permalink Reply by Classical Contrarian on August 12, 2021 at 21:58

Nice map, thanks for the share, out of interest, I think the Lea is protected by several locks and behind the Thames barrier - meaning that sea level rise shouldn't have an impact on the Lea Valley, compared to many 'unprotected' tidal rivers across the UK.

As the map is based on terrain elevation and doesn't take into account any flood defences (hence pretty much no flooding on the Map in Scotland, despite the massive risk of flooding from climate change).

Just taking my science hat off for a second, jeeze it's scary! I also wonder is the insurance companies will take any of this into account when quoting home insurance with flood protection in Tottenham or on the ladder?

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on August 12, 2021 at 22:50

Mmm, the info panel on the map has the following:

Areas lower than the selected water level and with an unobstructed path to the ocean are shaded red. By default, areas below the water level but that appear to be protected by ridges (and in the U.S., levees) are not shaded.

But the map does rather seem to ignore the Thames Barrier. Can they have really made such a gaffe for one of the world's major cities?

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Permalink Reply by Classical Contrarian on August 13, 2021 at 8:40

Good point, but it's still working off sea level, which means it's ignoring a bunch of other factors - for example in the majority of Africa there is barely any 'red' when we know there are massive areas prone to flooding - not least Lagos, one of (or maybe the) largest city by population on the seaboard which only has a tiny patch. And yes, no Thames barrier, nor the 3 locks between Tottenham and the Thames.

Obviously it's a good indicator of risk areas, but I'm much more worried about extreme weather events in the UK which is causing much more flooding than the rising sea level at the moment. Maybe I'm naive?!

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on August 13, 2021 at 10:01

The Thames Barrier will not be able to deal with rising sea levels. it was built to deal with surges and not as a dam. The Thames Estuary Plan is meant to compensate but again it deals with tidal surges rather than permanently higher sea levels.