Flooding From Storm Surge Would Threaten D.C. Infrastructure: Report

"By the end of this century, as sea levels rise, as much as $7 billion worth of property in the District will routinely be threatened by storm-driven floodwaters, according to a new analysis, including 1,000 homes, three military bases and a broad swath of the Mall.

With tides on the Atlantic Coast generally forecast to rise two to four feet by 2100, the nation’s capital faces increasing odds that a big storm will blow up the Potomac River and raise local waters by at least eight feet, the analysis says — roughly a foot higher than the damaging floods that accompanied Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

The report, set for release Tuesday by the nonprofit Climate Central, maps the areas at risk in unprecedented detail, cataloguing vulnerable government facilities, roadways, cultural sites and private houses. At eight feet, for example, the Washington Navy Yard, Fort McNair and much of Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling would be inundated, the report says. So would the Maine Avenue waterfront, subsidized apartments along the Anacostia River and national memorials honoring Jefferson, King and Lincoln."

Lori Montgomery reports for the Washington Post September 16, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Surging Seas" (Climate Central)