Flooding in U.S. coastal areas is projected to occur 10 times more often over the next 25 years, with about 2.5 million people and 1.4 million homes facing severe property damage from sea level rise, Floodlight reports.
The figures are according to a new analysis released Wednesday by Climate Central, which developed a Coastal Risk Finder tool for the public and policymakers to map the flooding risks for their parts of the country.
Communities in New York and New Jersey are identified among those most at risk, as well as communities in the Gulf Coast region.
Louisiana ranks fourth on the report’s list of states with the most population at risk from severe coastal flooding in the coming 25 years, but it tops the list when it comes to the amount of land loss from coastal flooding by 2050—approximately 9,200 square miles.
Land loss isn’t a new issue in Louisiana—it’s estimated the state lost 5,700 acres of wetlands a year between 1974 and 1990.
