Record high tide flooding hit coastal communities last year

A walkway at the Tidal Basin leads to a flooded sidewalk from the rising high tide on July 2nd, 2019, in Washington, DC. The Tidal Basin’s crumbling seawall and sidewalks are routinely under water due to the rising sea levels high tides and threatening some Cherry Blossom Trees.  | Photo by Mark Wilson / Getty Images

High tide flooding hit record levels in the US last year and is only expected to get worse, according to a new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Coastal communities experienced twice as many days with high tide flooding last year than they did 20 years ago. Records were either matched or broken in 14 places across the Southeast Atlantic and Gulf coastlines.

Nationally, coastal communities were hit with a median of four days of high tide flooding in the past year — although some places suffered through more than quadruple that number. NOAA’s outlook for the rest of the year until April 2022 rises to three to seven days of flooding. But because of sea-level rise tied to climate change, the long-term...

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