Study: Rising Seas Could Threaten Carolina Coasts
Monday, July 21, 2014 at 6:17PM A new analysis of sea level rise concludes that billions of dollars in property and infrastructure is at risk in extreme floods expected along the coast of the Carolinas in coming years.
Climate Central of Princeton, N.J., a nonprofit group of scientists and journalists that surveys and conducts climate change studies, released an analysis of the threat faced in South Carolina on Monday, while its report for North Carolina was released last week. An analysis for Georgia is due next week.
The information is available on an interactive map on the organization’s website, http://bit.ly/1rjkMsv, where visitors can enter their ZIP code and see various flooding scenarios.
The analysis found that the South Carolina coast is likely to see extreme floods of more than 4 feet above high tide within 40 years in a danger zone that includes 54,000 homes and $24 billion in property. North Carolina has $9 billion in property and 61,000 homes less than 4 feet above the high tide line, most of it in the Wilmington area.
Ben Strauss, the lead author of the reports, said the organization two years ago used maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to analyze population and housing threatened by flooding in all coastal states.
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