Do you live here? Maps reveal the U.S. regions most at risk of floods
Costal and inland flooding alike will shape the nation’s future.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images News/Getty Images
As the climate crisis causes sea levels to rise, many costal areas in the U.S. have to meet a recurring problem: floods.
Communities in Michigan, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania were slammed with intense floods in 2021, causing casualties and extensive property damage.
A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change predicts the skyrocketing costs of increased floods in the U.S., and which areas will be most affected.
Along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, the average annual flood loss (in millions) will increase by over 20 percent in some places over the next 30 years.
Predominantly white counties with high poverty rates have seen 10 times as many flood losses compared to white communities with the least amount of poverty. The latter typically concentrate in cities.
The researchers predict that from 2020 to 2050, Black communities will see a steady increase in annual flood losses overall.
In 2020, the flood losses of predominantly white counties with the largest proportions of residents in poverty (top) had greater losses than counties with lower proportions of white residents who have higher income levels (bottom).
Here are those regions up close. Low income, high proportion white counties are in the top four panels, high income and low proportion are in the lower four.
From 2020 to 2050, counties with the highest proportion of Black residents (top) are predicted to see higher increases in flood risk than those with the lowest concentrations.
Here are those regions up close. Top four panels show the counties with highest proportion of Black residents, and the lower four have the lowest proportion.