Odds of NYC Flooding During a Storm Up 20-Fold
New study documents rising storm surges since the mid-19th century.
The chances of New York City flooding during a storm are even greater than scientists previously thought, a new study suggests.
Maximum water levels in New York Harbor during storms have risen by nearly two and a half feet (about 0.7 meters) since the mid-1800s, making the chances of water overtopping the Manhattan seawall at least 20 times greater than they were 170 years ago, scientists report in a new paper accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters.
The cause, they say, is not just global sea-level rise: That accounts for less than a foot and a half (around 0.4 meters) of the increase. Surprisingly, the maximum height of the storm tide in New York Harbor caused by a "once-in-ten-years" storm
