More than four million U.S. residences along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts are at risk of hurricane-driven storm-surge damage, totaling $710 billion in property exposure, says the 2012 CoreLogic Storm Surge Report.
Meanwhile, research by Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has reported that due to climate change-related sea level rise, “100 year floods” or those rising 5.7 feet above tide level, may occur every three to 20 years. Floods reaching more than nine feet deep, now occurring every five centuries, could occur every 25 to 250 years.
The five metro areas with the greatest value of storm-surge exposed property are New York City with 455,255 properties possibly affected, totaling $168 billion; Virginia Beach, Va. with a total of 290,522 potentially affected properties valued at $46 billion; Miami with 229,413 properties potentially affected at a cost of $42 billion; New Orleans with 276,930 properties potentially affected for $38 billion; and Tampa, Fla. with 283,603 properties and $28 billion at stake.
