Coastal Flooding | Powerful Waters Meeting Infrastructure
Coastal flooding is becoming increasingly more common and severe with time. Learn more here…
Coastal flooding is a common type of flood from multiple weather events. From offshore systems to hurricanes, it affects millions every year. With more and more moving to coastal areas every year, and the increasing risk of these floods happening, this post covers several areas of these floods. Read to learn more…
This post is all about coastal flooding.
Threatening Coastal Flooding
How Widespread is Coastal Flooding?
The first section of this post will be about how widespread coastal flooding is. It hits just about every coastal area there is, with all the types of phenomena that can cause it. Some of the causes include tropical systems, high wind events, failure of human infrastructure, and more. The floods can be even bigger because, on top of the flooding, there could be rainfall floods.
Coastal Flooding Effects
The effects of these floods could be minor and go almost unnoticed, or it can be destructive and reach audiences around the nation. The floods from major hurricanes usually gets more attention than some weak low-pressure system. If it is a storm surge, it can wash tons of debris out to see, probably never to be seen again. The affected areas can also have a lasting smell that can stick for many days after the waters go away. Sealife can be majorly impacted by going inland or the debris getting washed out to sea.
Flood Map
For those who live in areas prone to flooding like storm surge, you might want to look at a flood map of your area. NOAA has a really useful and interactive tool called the “Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper” that can be used to look at your high tide, storm surge, sea level rise, and tsunami risks. Click here to visit NOAA’s flood mapper.
Storm Surge Flooding
Debatably the most dangerous cause of coastal flooding is storm surge from strong low-pressure systems. Storm surge can reach incredible hieghts of up to and over 15-20 feet and travel miles inland. Coastal areas that are not hurricane-prone do not have to face this problem, though. If you want to learn more about storm surge, learn more in this post here.
