In the wettest zones, streets are studded with "For Sale" signs. Even now, city maps show that the surge from a Category Three hurricane would inundate nearly the entire city. If sea levels rise between two and five feet in the area by 2100, as recent studies predict, that could become routine. The worst flooding in memory happened in 1933, when a hurricane and five-foot storm surge left residents wading thigh-deep on downtown streets. ![]() Most of Norfolk is less than 15 feet above sea level, and low-lying neighborhoods already flood regularly when heavy rains combine with high tides, swamping storm-water systems. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli made headlines in 2010 for investigating University of Virginia climate scientist Michael Mann, and again this year for trying unsuccessfully to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.īut whatever state leaders think of climate change, local officials find they can't ignore increasingly apparent street-level impacts. Republican Governor Bob McDonnell said in 2010 that "to what degree is attributable to manmade causes is a matter I will leave up to the experts," and shelved a climate change action plan proposed by a commission under his Democratic predecessor. Planning for climate change is not a winning political platform in Virginia. Geological Survey reported that sea levels are rising more quickly along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts than globally, possibly as a result of slowing Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns. The ocean at Sewells Point, site of the Norfolk Naval Station, rose 14.5 inches between 19. The Atlantic Ocean off Virginia's coast is rising a quarter of an inch annually, equivalent to two feet in 100 years - faster than anywhere else in the United States except for coastal Louisiana. In many ways the problem is already upon Norfolk. While they struggle to pull together know-how and funding, those with the broader view and resources - state agencies -are absent from the discussions: In a study released earlier this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council ranked Virginia as one of 29 states that were "largely unprepared and lagging behind" on planning for climate change at the state level. ![]() ![]() Yet as much as water is a resource in Norfolk and the surrounding area, known as Hampton Roads, it also represents a threat.Ĭity and county leaders, already burdened with typical tasks of local governance - zoning, construction permits, liquor licenses, school board appointments - are also weighing multi-million-dollar flood control projects to keep the ocean at a livable distance. Canals and creeks penetrate into many neighborhoods, and home sale listings highlight water access - "Within 50 feet of H2O - You can canoe and kayak!". Norfolk is nearly surrounded by water: it sits at the mouth of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the junction of the Elizabeth and James Rivers. Water is inescapable in Virginia's second-largest city, home to the world's biggest naval base, three major port facilities and public and private shipyards.
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