New Hampshire recently hosted a Rising Tides
Summit that gathered 35 mayors and other elected officials from Northeast states and other coastal regions to discuss ways to cope with progressively severe coastal flooding exacerbated by rising sea levels.
The conference was hosted by Portsmouth, NH Mayor Bob Lister and NH State Senator Nancy Stiles.
During a press conference, elected officials called on presidential candidates to look into coastal flooding and sea level rises that affect coastal communities. Shoreline areas in the US are home to 123 million people who produce 45% of the nation’s GDP.
Steven Abrams, Palm Beach County, FL commissioner expressed his desire to make known the flooding issues the country currently faces.
“At the local level, coastal flooding is a non-partisan issue. Local elected officials are the first responders but it’s essential to bring this to national attention because we rely on our federal officials for their help and their support. The coastal flooding issues we are facing are not just public safety issues but significant economic issues in terms of property values and insurance rates,” he said.
Ocean Springs, MS Mayor Connie Moran, who attended the conference, said, “A huge issue for our residents is the rising cost of flood insurance as sea levels rise and increase the impact of major hurricanes. We need to develop solutions such as creating universal disaster insurance on the federal level.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report last year entitled “Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Changes Around the United States.” The report’s goal was “to heighten awareness of a growing problem of more frequent nuisance coastal flooding respective to a community’s living memory and to encourage resiliency efforts in response to impacts from sea level rise.” The report contained results of an extensive analysis of water levels from 75 coastal water gauges. The report also analyzed the number of “nuisance flood days” reported yearly in the locations tested.
Based on the report, the NOAA concluded that the number of nuisance flood days has been increasing since the 1980s. Most of the nuisance floods occurred during the fall months, according to the data gathered, and are often the result of nor’easters or hurricanes.
The report warned that “impacts from recurrent coastal flooding include overwhelmed stormwater drainage capacity, frequent road closures and general deterioration and corrosion of infrastructure not designed to withstand frequent inundation or salt-water exposure. From this, we conclude that there is a time horizon, largely dependent upon the local rate of sea level rise, when critical elevation thresholds for various public/private/commercial serving systems will become increasingly compromised by tidal flooding.”
In addition to those quoted, other attendees from the region included 2 elected officials from Alabama; 3 county commissioners and two mayors from Florida; 1 mayor from Georgia; 3 mayors from Mississippi, including Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes; 3 elected officials from North Carolina; and 2 from South Carolina.
