In just six years, cost estimates of the damage storm surge might do to Louisiana's coastal communities have doubled, thanks to climate change and other factors, report our media partners at the Advocate/Times Picayune report.
The estimates are coming from a new Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority study.
The worst-case numbers, which measure what would happen if no additional mitigation efforts are pursued, estimate $5.5 billion in annual damage to those areas beginning in 2023, up from the $2.7 billion that was estimated in 2017, the newspapers report.
Data also show that flooding from surge waters created by a hurricane with a 1% chance of occurring in any year, the so-called 100-year storm, is expected to reach higher levels over the next 50 years, as global warming increases surge heights and storm intensities, the newspapers report.
Here's some estimates for the communities the study says are most at risk:
To read the whole story with more details on the report, click here.
