Report: U.S. high-tide flflooding is double that of 30 years ago
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.— A new report finds that high-tide flooding is happening across the United States at twice the rate it was just 30 years ago, andpredicts records for such flflooding will continue to be broken for decades as sea levels rise.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration saidWednesday that high-tide flooding, sometimes called sunny-day or “nuisance flflooding,” tied or set records last year in more than a quarter of the 98 places the agency monitors around the country.
The report found Sabine Pass in Texas had 23 days of high-tide flooding last year, while Atlantic City, NewJersey, and Boston had 22 each. Cities in other parts of the country experienced fewer tidal floods, but many of those cities still saw records set.
“Though year-to-year and regional variability exist, the underlying trend is quite clear: Due to sea-level rise, the national average frequency of high tide flooding is double what itwas 30 years ago,” the report said.
Ben Horton, aRutgers University researcher who was not involved in the study, called it “a warning, a shot across the bow.”
“Across the whole of the U.S. coastline, we are in dire need of action,” he said.
In addition to the conclusions of the report, Horton said it is just as significant that “this is a federally funded sea-level assessment funded by the Trump Administration, and it shows that
the problems on our coasts are getting worse and will get worse.”
The Republican president has derided climate change as a hoax.
As sea levels rise, coastal communities around the U.S. are experiencing flooding that closes roads or inconveniences daily activities on an increasing basis. Two of the three main entrances to Atlantic City, the east coast gambling resort, are often flooded by tides, with one or both lanes having to be shut down for hours at a time.
“What used to be uncommon is now becoming fairly common,” said William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer and co-author of the report.