Floodplains, floods, disasters, development | Homeland Security Newswire
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How-to for reducing flooding impacts in coastal towns
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Posted on Dec 17, 2020
Rising seas are pushing groundwater upward, worsening flooding.
As the climate warms, coastal waters are rising, not only along the shore, but beneath people’s feet.
“The storms and the waves and sea-level rise are going to affect the surface water first, and the groundwater is going to follow,” says Kevin Befus, assistant professor in the department of geosciences at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Befus says that as seas rise, more saltwater seeps inland. That creates pressure on existing groundwater and pushes it upward.
As it rises, that water can creep into subway tunnels and basements and damage underground electrical lines. And because it saturates the earth, it can worsen tidal and storm flooding.