Is Your Community at Risk for Flooding?
Climate change is leading to more flooding, and it’s a concern beyond coastal communities. The Boston Globe recently released a map showing various Boston-area neighborhoods’ flood risk based on two models: floodplains determined…
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Climate change is leading to more flooding, and it's a concern beyond coastal communities.
The Boston Globe recently released a map showing various Boston-area neighborhoods' flood risk based on two models: floodplains determined by mapping from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model from the state's Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), which estimates future impacts by 2050.
According to The Boston Globe, the difference between the two maps is that FEMA floodplains do not account for the effects of climate change. The CZM model focuses exclusively on coastal areas and does not account for risks to inland communities.
As The Globe notes, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management maintains a map developed by the research firm Woods Hole Group that connects sea-level rise projections to estimate the future risk of coastal flooding due to climate change. While the FEMA map addresses specific storm scenarios (1% or 0.2% chance in a given year), the CZM model is based on thousands of various storm scenarios.
The Boston Globe noted the following concerns based on these map updates:
- Flood waters and sea level rises could put buildings in Boston's Seaport at risk. Businesses in this district contribute a significant portion to the city's tax base.
- Morrissey Boulevard, a parkway in Dorchester, floods repeatedly each year. Rising water levels could pose challenges for this major roadway.
- Inland, people living in communities behind levees aren't immune to climate change. They're also at risk from rising water during powerful storms.
- From the South Coast to the North Shore, Cape Ann to Cape Cod, practically every coastal community in Massachusetts is dealing with higher tides and rising seas.
- Hull, Massachusetts, is a tiny community that understands the dangers of flooding. Hull's flood risk means residents are being forced to face the realities of climate change, whether they accept it or not.
