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By Wayne Parry

The Associated Press

HOBOKEN, N.J. 鈥� After聽Superstorm Sandy聽struck the northeast U.S. in 2012, an unprecedented effort was launched to fortify the densely populated coastline against the next big storm.

Thousands of homes were raised on pilings. Concrete and steel walls were constructed beneath rebuilt dunes and beach boardwalks to help hold back seawater. Tunnels near New York鈥檚 harbor were equipped with giant flood doors.

Then, last year, stakeholders learned that even all those precautions might not be enough in an age of more powerful storms.

Flash floods killed at least 58 people from Maryland to Connecticut when the remnants of Hurricane Ida聽blew into the northeast聽after first striking the Gulf Coast. In New York and New Jersey, people drowned in basement apartments far from any ocean or bay. In the suburbs, motorists were swept away trying to escape flooded inland roadways.

The two deadly storms, nearly a decade apart, left public officials and residents alike contemplating what more needs to be done. And today,聽10 years after Sandy聽and with billions of dollars already spent, the most ambitious and comprehensive protections are years away from completion, with some still in early stages or even unfunded. Experts say Ida showed the area was not ready for another storm 鈥� and they worry about what will happen when the next one hits.

鈥淲e must be more prepared than we are now,鈥� said Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey鈥檚 environmental protection commissioner. 鈥淲e have done a lot of work since Sandy 鈥� developing the dune system, the buildings raised and the flood control infrastructure. We鈥檙e still not ready.鈥�

Residents echo his concerns.

鈥淚 will be forever nervous because of Sandy,鈥� said Liz Ndoye, whose Hoboken home flooded. 鈥淚 will never feel safe. We can mitigate, but we will never stop the city from flooding. Every time it rains, I worry. We are in a climate crisis.鈥�

Experts nationwide say hurricanes like Ian several weeks ago set off a familiar cycle: Another round of evaluations follows each storm, adding to the list of needed work, from the overhaul of aging inland stormwater management systems to infrastructure projects to address聽climate change concerns.

鈥淲e have to think of more sustainable ways to live along the coast,鈥� said Greg Tolley, executive director of the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. 鈥淲e have to do things differently. The so-called 100-year storms and the Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are happening more frequently.鈥�

When Sandy聽made landfall聽slightly north of Atlantic City on Oct. 29, 2012, and then caused massive destruction, it touched off discussions of how to respond in the long term.

In New York, work began last year on a $1.5 billion effort to protect Manhattan鈥檚 Lower East Side by raising the East River shoreline about 8 feet. The project involves bulldozing around 1,000 trees and a waterfront park, then rebuilding it and a 1.2-mile-long floodwall on top of tons of fill. It鈥檚 one phase of a ring of planned flood barriers and levees dubbed 鈥淭he Big U.鈥� Completion isn鈥檛 expected for years.

The project proceeded despite criticism that too many mature trees would be cut. It鈥檚 a common concern among environmental advocates and other experts: Each project may offer a solution to a singular issue while creating new problems, especially regarding climate change.

鈥淏ecause the challenges we face are very widespread and can vary 鈥� they might deal with something like long-term sea level rise or being prepared for a big storm shock like Sandy 鈥� I think we鈥檙e at real risk of it showing up in a slightly different way, and we won鈥檛 have the defenses in place to handle that,鈥� said Andrew Salkin, who co-founded New York-based nonprofit Resilient Cities Catalyst.

鈥淪olely relying on hard infrastructure and gray infrastructure, like concrete and steel, to erect things to keep out nature is challenging,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ver time, nature tends to win.鈥�

Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a $52 billion proposal to build tidal gates and storm surge barriers to protect parts of New York and northern New Jersey. Construction would start in 2030 at the earliest, with projected completion in 2044 if all is approved and funded.

The Army Corps has a separate $16 billion plan to build gates that could stop storm tides from surging up inlets and bays behind the Jersey Shore. It would be one of the costliest flood-prevention projects any state has undertaken, and there鈥檚 no guarantee Congress will pay for any of it.

Some projects launched after Sandy are complete. A聽4-mile steel wall聽is buried under the sand of replenished beaches in Mantoloking and Brick at the Jersey Shore, where storm surge cut a coastal highway in half and swept dozens of homes into Barnegat Bay.

A New Jersey train station where floodwaters gushed in through an elevator shaft has been rebuilt with aquarium glass and flood doors that can be slammed and locked in less than a minute.

And billions of dollars have been spent hardening power infrastructure, ringing water and sewage treatment plants with better storm barriers, and elevating home electrical, heating and cooling equipment.

Officials admit the scope of that work is vast but say it鈥檚 a fraction of what remains.

鈥淎re we better off than we were before Sandy? No question,鈥� LaTourette said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not enough.鈥�

Complicating the calculus of storm protection was Hurricane Ida 鈥� a 鈥渉umongous wake-up call,鈥� said Amy Chester, managing director of Rebuild by Design, an organization that worked with federal officials to jump-start post-Sandy resiliency projects.

鈥淚t showed us that every single community can flood, not just those in floodplains,鈥� she said.

The group says urban areas need to be transformed from concrete jungles into sponges by creating 鈥渞esiliency parks鈥� designed to flood during storms. The parks capture water that would otherwise flow into streets and sewer systems.

The city of Hoboken built two such parks after Sandy, with three more to come. They can hold millions of gallons of stormwater, some via underground cisterns as large as a city block.

New York has begun some work to improve inland drainage, including $2.5 billion of sewer upgrades, though many billions of dollars more would be needed to make the system capable of handling storms like either Sandy or Ida.

In the Bronx, the city hopes to take a brook diverted into the city鈥檚 sewer system a century ago and bring it back above ground. That might help avoid a repeat of issues during Ida: The brook, swollen beyond capacity of the sewer pipes, ran onto a major city expressway and submerged cars.

Meanwhile six projects sponsored by Rebuild by Design are ongoing. 鈥淭he Big U鈥� is among them. So is a resilient energy generation project in the Bronx and a plan to lessen flooding in northern New Jersey鈥檚 Meadowlands. Other projects are in Hoboken and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Some aspects of the largest projects could be completed next year, while others will take years more to finish.

鈥淎m I happy with the pace? No,鈥� Chester said. 鈥淏ut it is reality that it鈥檚 going to take time to get our cities prepared for future storms. One thing we quickly realized is just how complex these projects are.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: AP writer Bobby Caina Calvan in New York contributed to this story.