Eight U.S. East Coast cities are at high or very high risk of “extreme” flood damage based on current scenarios, with New York and New Orleans facing some of the greatest dangers, a new study finds.
New York could see the highest number of people affected by flooding: 50% of New York City’s population — around 4.4 million people — and 47% of its buildings are currently at high risk of exposure to extreme flood damage if a major flood occurs, according to a flood risk assessment published Wednesday (April 22) in the journal Science Advances.
New Orleans faces the greatest relative risk, with 98% of its population — about 375,000 people — and 99% of its infrastructure at high risk of being exposed to extreme damage, according to the study…