Flooding and Sea Level Rise in Hampton Roads Michelle Covi, Assistant Professor of Practice Old Dominion University, Virginia Sea Grant

Hampton Roads, Virginia 17 independent jurisdictions, 1.7 million people, Highest rate of sea level rise on the east coast, 400 hundred years of living on the water 18 military facilities including the largest Navy station in the world, 5th busiest port in the U. S. . Shipbuilding, tourism Tidal, storm surge and nuisance flooding College Status Criteria Leadership Organization National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change, CAN Military Advisory Board May 2014

Tide Gauge at Sewell’s Point, Norfolk VA 1927

Minor tidal flooding (~1foot over MHHW/4feet over MLLW) Historic Hague district of Norfolk flood wall Observed water level ~1ft higher than predicted, why? How often do we see minor flooding in Norfolk? Used to be a rare event, now almost every month… Acceleration in flooding time

Moderate (weather-related) flooding (~5ft > MLLW/~2ft>MHHW) How much such flooding we see in Norfolk?

Major storm events (>6ft MLLW/3ft MHHW) Hurricane Sandy (10/29/2012) Veterans Day Norester 2009 How often do we see extreme flooding events like this in Norfolk? In the past every 10 years, now every 2 years or so… Ches-Potomak Hurricane of 1933 Ash Wednesday storm of 1962 Twin Norester 1998 Sandy Isabel

Flooding and Sea Level Rise College Status Criteria Leadership Organization

Regional Response Norfolk 100 Resilient City Hampton Roads Adaptation Forum Intergovernmental SLR Planning Pilot project College Status Criteria Leadership Organization

The Challenge College Status Criteria Leadership Organization Better water level predictions Storm track and storm intensitiy Coastal and ocean dynamics on SLR College Status Criteria Leadership Organization