Flood Risk On East Shore Radar

So Tweed is of concern for flooding in the near future and this is the airport so many people want to expand? Can you put an airport on stilts?

"eastshore", First these projections are for decades into the future and are subject to corrections as time goes on. Tweed's runways never flooded over but the airport that some locals are saying should be built up for commercial airline service instead of Tweed is the Sikorsky airport with its runway closer to the water and it sits at a lower elevation and has flooded over in the past. There are flood control measures that have been done at other airports that will also apply to Tweed.
Stilts will not be needed but some planning and modifications to the runway can ensure it will be around for years longer.

Runways never flood at Tweed!?!?!?!?!?! Yes , they do!

BTW Steve--- so you know better than the planners, engineers, and FEMA about the safety of the East Shore area and airports in particular?? What is your exact field of expertise?

Tweed Airport is built on a coastal floodplain. Efforts to pave more of this coastal floodplain will cause more flooding in the area. "Decades in the future" is a blithe statement when we're talking about so much money and so much harm. If you follow climate disaster news, and I do, the local storm and flooding predictions are getting more dire both in terms of severity and time projections for our wee little residential neighborhood.

CityYankee, I worked many years for a major airline and have traveled to many airports and observed those near bodies of water. Last year there were many storms that caused flooding at airports such as Fort Lauderdale and Houston. While Tweed last year had 1-2 inches of water in the terminal, the runway did not flood over, can't say the same for Sikorsky airport, it's runway has flooded over in the past. Tweeds present terminal was formerly a hanger and was built level with the tarmac, a new terminal will be built with a higher foundation. RHeerema. "flooding predictions", predictions are not an exact science and there are ways to alleviate flooding and all these predictions are decades away. You tend to state your ideas as if they are facts, such as the water chute, deice fluid and jet fuel flowing down the runway when in fact there is a seven inch difference in elevation on Tweeds runway, nowhere near enough elevation to cause a chute of water at the end of the runway and planes are not deiced on the runway and every plane is given a walk around and fluid leaks will ground the aircraft. The runway is also grooved from side to side causing water to be dispersed in over 2 miles of turf. Tweeds elevation difference amounts to less than one inch for every 560 feet, the length of almost two football fields. You bought a home near an airport and what did expect to experience, a rural quiet setting and forests? Your home is in the city and the airport preceded you by decades. Tweed will never be a large operation but I envision 3-4 airlines with 12-20 daily flights and no late night departures. Tweed has a large population base to draw from and it eliminates the dependence on Bradley many miles away. Tweeds passenger numbers are growing every year and other airlines are looking at Tweed, more service will follow. Tweed will not go away so 2 options exist, 1. move away or 2. stay put and see if your fears are well founded, facts,not projections.

Dear Steve,

CityYankee, I was no flight attendant but was involved with aircraft operations. Area residents want more service and for the last two years passenger numbers have grown by large percentages. Tweed can still stay small but it sure can support more flights than the few it has now.
What will you do when more flights are added? Airports grow, not shrink, people move near an airport then gripe about the noise. Tweed opened in 1931 and yet some move in and feel they have final say over the airport. Over the years Tweed has won court cases and soon the SCOTUS will decide if thy will hear the states appeal. Very few appeal court cases are overturned and last years court decision in favor of Tweed should stand. If Tweed wins the court's decision, that will end the court fights for good.
I have read the comments by some who oppose the airport and anyone with some airport-airline experience can see right through these made up stories, it's better to be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
There are many topics I will not comment on because I lack information on the subject. Airports are one subject I am well versed in having worked on the tarmac and in the hangar for years.

So, when can expect Mayor Elicker to issue a moratorium on property sales in the Morris Cove?
Seems to me that, If there's going to be flooding, the prudent thing to do would be to keep folks from moving out there to begin with. "An ounce of prevention..."
And isn't it funny how the folks who are so concerned with Tweed being underwater show NO concern for that part of I-95 at Long Wharf, or those parts of the railroad which hug the Connecticut shoreline, both of which are MUCH closer to the water than Tweed.
Let's get that mass evacuation of the Cove started now!

So the headline and article is about a collapse of The Cove and East Shore on a chart while a passing mention of burglaries. How about a warning that motorbike and 4 Wheel season is soon approaching so heads up while walking, biking and driving on Townsend Ave. I agree with Vinny, the rail yards are in just as much danger if not more by water. LaGuardia is on the water, JFK is on the ocean and they are expanding and growing, New Haven might as well take advantage of the time it has, should the city condemn all housing in the risk area?

Commenter Steve should be asked to write a retraction on his false statement below that Tweed sustained water floods of an inch in the last big rain. There was over 2 feet of water and flights were cancelled because of it. There are people who had to delay their departure because of it. If any commenter can just write flat out lies, then the integrity of commenting is compromised. Please, editors; consider whether a patently false statement can be made with no consequence.

CityYankee, I was wrong in my comment on the level of water in the terminal, but not the runway. I read somewhere that is was a couple of inches. I mention the runway not being flooded over as it does at Sikorsky airport.
Below WTNH reports on the level of water.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — All flights prior to 5:45 p.m. at Tweed New Haven Airport on Tuesday have been cancelled.

Torrential downpours from Monday evening thunderstorms send around a foot of water into Tweed's commercial terminal around 5:30 p.m.

@CityYankee in my entire aviation career I have never once seen Tweed's runways flood. That span includes a few hurricanes... Last summer the terminal flooded during torrential rain due to it being a converted hangar that, by nature, sits at ground level. That used to be far more common, as did flooding in the neighborhoods surrounding Tweed, until the tide gates were installed.

On the other hand, I have seen Sikorsky Airport flood severely on more than one occasion. Feet of water in places not just an inch or two...

Its unclear whether the doom and gloom projections some reference take into account the flood mitigation that is already in place at the airport. The wetlands that sit adjacent the airport, some of them man made, help to mitigate the risk of serious flooding for the entire area. If you really think Tweed will be under water in 50 years think about the port, I-95, Union Station and any homes or businesses of similar elevation. What about JFK? LGA? BOS? SFO? Should we give up and let our transportation assets be flood prone in MAYBE 50+ years? Or should we invest in protecting them for that possibility?

Funny you would think from the comments that this article might have actually mentioned Tweed once... Nope...

HVNPILOT- Tweed is mentioned specifically in the graphic at the top of the article. Area residents received a letter with this graphic. I would say that future airports need to be built on higher ground and less populated areas, rather than throw money away on marsh land that is in flood zones NOW

CityYankee, Tweed is in the increased risk, not the high risk category also 50 years a long way off and the forecasted water levels are just that, forecasts, not an exact science. Those opposed have gone from one topic to another regarding Tweed. 1. "Airlines don't want to come to Tweed". American is doing well and Allegiant has said they will come with an upgraded runway. 2. "There is no market for air travel in the New Haven area" and yet passenger numbers have increased by double digits from 2017 when jet service started. 3. "Tweed is a boutique airport", I guess that was the women's point of view. I never ever heard of an airport called boutique.4. Someone a few years back said larger planes would sink in the ground and we are all familiar with the imaginary "water chute" at the end of the runway that had deice fluid and jet fuel in the water but in reality, planes are not deiced on the runway. The HVN Pilot explained why the terminal flooded since originally it was a hanger and level with the tarmac. Seems the evil stories about Tweed are starting to run dry but some are quite good on writing science fiction.