The Future Flooding of New York

The City of New York has released a new interactive map designed to highlight areas of the city in danger of future flooding events. The New York City Stormwater Flood Maps shows how extreme rainfall could impact New York in the coming decades, under two different scenarios.

The 'Moderate Stormwater Flood' scenario highlights areas of the city which are most likely to be flooded during a moderate rainstorm after a sea level rise of 2.5 feet. The 'Extreme Stormwater Flood' scenario shows locations likely to flood in an extreme rainstorm, after a 4.8 feet of sea level rise. The purpose of the map is to both inform the public about the city's vulnerability to flooding from stormwater and to help the city plan and build anti-flooding measures. 

The New York City Stormwater Flood Maps does not model the dangers of flooding from coastal storms, such as Hurricane Sandy. Rain is by far the most frequent cause of flooding in New York City. 

Last year the First Street Foundation published their study into flooding risk in the United States. The nonprofit organization also released an online tool that can tell you the current flood risk for your home and how that risk may increase due to environmental and climate change.

If you enter your address or zip-code into Flood Factor you can view a detailed report into whether your area has flooded in the past, the current local flooding conditions and the future risk of flooding. Interactive maps are used by Flood Factor to show the local areas most at risk of flooding and the severity of that risk.

The flood risk report for your area informs you of such things as the proportion of local properties at risk from flooding and the number of properties at risk due to climate change. The report also provides information of local action which communities can undertake to limit flood damage and lower flood insurance costs.