NY returns some neighbourhoods to nature to fend off storms

New York

EVERY now and then, Frank and Mary Lettieri return to visit what used to be their tightly packed Staten Island neighbourhood before Superstorm Sandy prompted New York state to let it go back to nature.

The deadly storm, which swamped the New York metropolitan area five years ago and revealed its vulnerability, convinced state officials to offer to buy out homeowners in flood-prone areas, including the Lettieris' Oakwood Beach neighbourhood.

At first, the Lettieris resisted. They had owned their nearly paid-off home since 1987, raised five children in it and spent US$138,000 to rebuild after the storm sent a surge over the nearby beach that filled their first floor with seawater.

But eventually, like nearly 80 per cent of their fellow Staten Island residents who were offered the same opportunity, they took the deal, part of a New York state programme to convert the most vulnerable neighbourhoods into uninhabited buffer…