New Sensors Show True Extent Of Coastal Flooding; 26, 65 and 128 Days Of Floods, Respectively, In 3 NC Coastal Towns
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To document the true prevalence and duration of flooding, researchers installed sensors inside stormwater drains and cameras above them in three North Carolina communities — Beaufort, Carolina Beach and Sea Level.
What they found was startling. During a single year, from May 2023 through April 2024, they logged 26 days of flooding in Beaufort, 65 days in Carolina Beach and 128 days in Sea Level. Many of those floods — defined as water getting on a nearby road — happened on sunny days, and very few were associated with large storm events. The frequency of flooding was “an order of magnitude greater” than the official number of what are known as high-tide flooding days projected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which maintains a network of tide gauges along the coastlines.
The reason tide gauges are “poor indicators of flooding,” the authors write, is not any fault with the instruments, which have long measured water levels in the ocean and serve various purposes. Rather, the existing tools often underestimate the true extent of flooding on land because they “do not measure rainfall runoff, groundwater contributions to flooding, or the effects of local drainage infrastructure,” the study found.
Monday’s study offers insights into a reality that a growing number of coastal communities will face, or already are facing: that infrastructure built for another time and another climate is not equipped to handle the higher tides and persistent flooding fueled by rising seas.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/06/02/coastal-flooding-north-carolina/