We’re excited to announce the release of our draft Flood Impact Assessment, which summarizes what will likely happen if nothing is done to protect the region from current and future flooding. This assessment informed the development of the action plan by helping to determine where and when actions should be taken to reduce flood risk.

Flood Impact Assessment

WHAT RISKS DOES THE REGION FACE?

The RBBC region faces risks from both future coastal storm surge flooding and future areal flooding from heavy sustained rainfall. Many areas of the region face risks from both types of flooding. Flooding has the potential impact many critical and community facilities that the region depends upon. These impacts are felt most acutely by socially vulnerable populations, such as low-income residents, the elderly or disabled, or community of color.

Note: The map was developed using NJDEP’s Resilient New Jersey flood models. NJDEP developed flood models that will help the region predict and prevent flood damage. When the model results are mapped, they can depict depths of flooding throughout the region, making them useful in highlighting potentially flood-prone areas, comparing possible flood mitigation options, and prioritizing action. Flood models developed for RNJ estimate both present and future flood risk; the future models consider climate change by incorporating increases in rainfall and sea level.

The maps are valuable policy setting tools, but provide only a coarse estimation of risk. THE NJDEP data was used rather than FEMA flood maps, as FEMA maps do not take into account climate change.

Various layers on the map will appear as you zoom in and out. The map layers for the present-day areal flood and the future areal flood events appear very similar on this map. However, there is a about a 10% increase in flooding during the future areal flood event—this increase does not have a major impact on the extent of flooding compared to present-day conditions but causes deeper flooding throughout the study area.