Seattle High Tide Flooding Probability Scenarios Through 2100
- John Cornelison
- July 17, 2021
Table of Contents
A new web application from ESRI provides a nice visual overlay to the latest ocean flooding scenarios – including
Seattle and by inference, Vashon too.
https://apl.esri.com/jg/hightideflooding/ is the web site which states:
High tide flooding today mostly affects low-lying and exposed assets or infrastructure, such as roads, harbors, beaches, public storm-, waste- and fresh-water systems and private and commercial properties. Due to rising relative sea level (RSL), more and more cities are becoming increasingly exposed and evermore vulnerable to high tide flooding, which is rapidly increasing in frequency, depth and extent along many U.S. coastlines. Today, high tide flooding is likely more disruptive (a nuisance) than damaging. The cumulative effects, however, are becoming a serious problem in several locations including many with strategic importance to national security such as Norfolk, Virginia, San Diego, California and Kwajalein Island in the U.S. Marshall Islands.
The National Ocean Service (NOS) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (COOPS) provides the National infrastructure, science, and technical expertise to collect and distribute observations and predictions of water levels and currents to ensure safe, efficient and environmentally sound maritime commerce. The Center provides the set of water level and tidal current products required to support NOS’ Strategic Plan mission requirements, and to assist in providing operational oceanographic data/products required by NOAA’s other Strategic Plan themes.
This information was obtained from NOAA Technical Report NOS CO-OPS 086: Patterns and Projections of High Tide Flooding Along the U.S. Coastline Using a Common Impact Threshold.
Looking at the projected flooding for Vashon shorelines by decade indicates property owners and others affected by sea level need to get prepared.
Have you been following the big snowstorms back east? I’ve been listening in as distant friends and family rush to prepare, then hunker down to wait out the blizzard. Supermarkets are getting low on fresh foods, as families stock up in advance of the storm. Friends and family relate how they’re getting in extra bottled water and wondering how to maintain home heat and refrigeration if the power goes out. Maybe the gas tanks of their cars aren’t full, but they live in cities where they can walk to many essential services. In a city, the household plan for staying safe and comfortable may rely on municipal services, utility companies, and emergency responders. On rural and isolated Vashon, we don’t enjoy such a robust infrastructure, so we need to prepare as best we can, and be ready to help each other if possible.
SEATTLE – A year following one of the nation’s largest domestic drills, lessons-learned continue to guide strategies that improve the Pacific Northwest’s ability to survive and recover from a catastrophic Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake and tsunami.