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AUDIE CORNISH: New York City is working on several plans to protect itself from future hurricanes and storms. But most of the proposals are many years and several billion dollars away from fruition. Matthew Schuerman, from member station WNYC, found that some owners of large office buildings aren't waiting around for the city to act. They're finding their own solutions.(SOUNDBITE OF CHURCH BELLS)
MATTHEW SCHUERMAN: Seventeen State Street is a large office building located right at the southern tip of Manhattan. One morning, earlier this month, a crew came and erected a four-foot-high temporary flood wall around it.(SOUNDBITE OF DRILLING)
ADAM GOLDBERG: We're looking at 450 linear feet of AquaFence.
SCHUERMAN: That's Adam Goldberg, the New York representative for AquaFence. The wall looks a bit like a series of track and field hurdles lined up side-by-side, but made of solid waterproof plywood. The flat pieces along the ground have rubber gaskets underneath.
GOLDBERG: The water approaches the barrier. The way the barriers are set up, the weight of the water actually compresses down...