NORFOLK, Va., (WVEC) -- More than 9,000 Virginia homes are at risk of tidal flooding by 2045 due to sea level rise, according to a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
That number jumps to nearly 115,000 by the year 2100, the report said.
Hampton Roads is particularly vulnerable to chronic flooding. By 2045, more than 3,000 homes are at risk, the study said.
The study analyzes data of home and commercial properties throughout the coastal United States that
will be put at risk from chronic flooding.
"In the coming decades, the consequences of rising seas will strain many coastal real estate markets—abruptly or gradually, but some eventually to the point of collapse—with potential reverberations throughout the national economy," the report states.
"And with the inevitability of ever-higher seas, these are not devaluations from which damaged real estate markets will recover."
The report finds that without additional measures to adapt to rising seas, Virginia faces:
- By 2045, more than $2 billion-worth of residential property (based on today’s values) is at risk of chronic flooding. The homes that would face this flooding at the end of the century are currently worth roughly $31 billion.
- The Virginia homes at risk in 2045 currently contribute about $23 million in annual property tax revenue. The homes at risk by 2100 currently contribute roughly $342 million collectively in annual property tax revenue.
- Accomack County and the Hampton Roads region are particularly exposed to chronic inundation. By 2045, more than 2,000 homes in Accomack County and more than 3,000 in the Hampton Roads area are at risk.
- Some of Virginia’s most exposed places are also home to large elderly communities or communities of color. In Accomack County, for example, more than one-in-four residents is elderly. And in Portsmouth and Hampton—which have roughly 200 and 400 at-risk homes, respectively, by 2045—more than half of residents are African American. Elderly and marginalized households typically have fewer resources available for coping with challenges like flooding.
- By 2045, more than 300 of today’s commercial properties in Virginia, currently assessed at nearly $212 million, would experience chronic inundation. In 2100, this number jumps to roughly 3,000 properties—assessed at approximately $3 billion today.
To use the interactive mapping tool and learn more about the impact of chronic flooding in your area, click here.
