Overview
The impacts from sea level rise and storm surge, extreme weather events, precipitation changes, higher temperatures and heat waves, Arctic warming, and other climatic changes are affecting the reliability and capacity of the U.S. transportation system. Sea level rise, coupled with storm surges, will continue to increase the risk of major coastal impacts on transportation infrastructure, including both temporary and permanent flooding of airports, ports and harbors, rail lines, transit facilities, and bridges.
Extreme flooding events currently disrupt transportation networks and will likely continue as sea levels are expected to rise at an accelerated pace for many coastal regions, such as Hampton Roads. Hampton Roads, second only to New Orleans in terms of vulnerability to sea level rise in the United States, is seeing more frequent storm surges and higher tides than before. Based on past storm events, Hampton Roads' east coast location makes it prone to significant storm surges about every four to five years.
Sea Level Rise
Sea level rise will result in significant impacts on coastal regions. Some areas are already experiencing permanent inundation, while other areas are seeing more frequent flooding. As sea levels continue to rise, some areas that have not seen flooding will start to experience it which will have major infrastructure impacts.
Repetitive flooding at critical transportation facilities can severely impact travel and hurt regional and local economies. When streets are impassable during and after flooding events, it often results in damages to personal property and missed work time, which has a crippling effect on communities.
Climate Change Impacts
Climate change impacts will increase the total costs to regional transportation systems and their users, but these impacts can be reduced through rerouting, mode change, and a wide range of adaptive actions. A critical step in devising an adaptation plan is to assess vulnerabilities.
The HRTPO is committed-through partnerships and regional studies to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise/storm surge on roadway infrastructure in Hampton Roads.
HRPDC Resilience and Flooding
Learn more about the HRPDC planning work in resiliency and flooding at the HRPDC webpage.
Potential Submergence of Roadways by 2045 Interactive Map