Major increase in coastal road flooding along East Coast over the past 20 years

New research from the University of New Hampshire has shown that "high tide floods," which can happen along shore roadways during seasonal high tides and minor onshore wind events are occurring at a dramatically higher rate than what they were just 20 years ago.

<img src="https://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/climatewx/2018/590x442_03282059_coastal.jpg"/>

Roadways along the immediate East Coast have seen a 90 percent increase in flooding over the past two decades. This will continue to have greater negative impacts on transportation through these critical areas.

By the middle of the century (2056 –2065), the researchers predict nuisance flooding could occur almost daily at specific sites along the shores of Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, the District of Columbia, North Carolina and Florida under an intermediate sea-level-rise scenario, according to <a href="https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/news/release/2018/03/28/unh-research-finds-dramatic-increase-flooding-coastal-roads" target=n>UNH Today.</a>

These impacts are not limited to storm events, according to the study. Critical transportation infrastructure is at risk from sea level rise alone.

<em>“As tidal coastal flooding increases in the coming years, there will also be issues with the transportation infrastructure,” said Jennifer Jacobs, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UNH. “We’ve already seen billions of dollars in damage to coastal roadways from recent hurricanes. In the future, with rising sea levels, we expect to see more frequent issues, more damage, and impact to roadways even farther inland.”</em>

Excellent link about <a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/recurrent-tidal-flooding.html">high tide coastal flooding.</a>

------

This study was recently published in the journal Transportation Research Record.