Dive Brief:

• Coastal tidal-gage data from stations along the East Coast of the U.S., compiled by Reuters, leads to a calculation that flooding is indeed more prevalent in the past 40 years -- a finding important to contractors and builders.
• In several locations, the annual days when water exceeded National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration flood thresholds was three times traditional numbers.
• In several cities from South Carolina to New Jersey, data since 1971 showed an average of 20 or more days a year of flooding compared with an average of five when data for years before 1971 were used.

Dive Insight:

In the study, Reuters used NOAA's definition of the flood threshold as being when water begins to pool on streets. Damage to streets, drainage systems or buildings begins above that level. Among the cities spotlighted in the report as having significant increases in flooding are Washington, Charleston SC and Atlantic City, NJ.

Reuters says its analysis is supported by two soon-to-be-published studies, one from NOAA and another by scientists at Old Dominion University in Virginia.