Rising sea level, coastal flooding spells disaster for coastal Maryland towns
All along the ragged shore of Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coast of the Delmarva Peninsula, north into New England and south into Florida, along the Gulf Coast and parts of the West Coast, people, businesses and governments are confronting rising seas not as a future possibility. For them, the ocean’s rise is a troubling everyday reality.
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- Dead trees stand in a marsh inside the Blackwater Wildlife RefugeOctober 9, 2014 in Robbins, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- An old dilapidated house sits abandoned near tidal wetlands October 9, 2014 in Church Creek, Maryland. Several islands and property located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Sand from a recent high tide covers a road near a home with an eroded septic field, October 9, 2014 in Hoppers Island, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- The ground surrounding a wooden fence is eroded away October 9, 2014 in Hoppers Island, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- The front yard of a vacant home is flooded from rising ground water October 9, 2014 in Robbins, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Robbins Road is flooded from the high tide of the Blackwater River October 9, 2014 in Robbins, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- A truck drives on Robbins Road that is flooded from the high tide of the Blackwater River October 9, 2014 in Robbins, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Mike Huber shows his wife Janet look at a crab he just caught while crabbing on a bridge October 9, 2014 in Church Creek, Maryland. Several islands and property located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Birds occupy a dilapidated pier on the Little Blackwater River October 9, 2014 in Church Creek, Maryland. Several islands and property’s located at sea level in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- A Heron looks for food in a roadside drainage ditch that raises and lowers with the tide October 9, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Several islands in the lower Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels rise. Officials have projected the sea level will rise several feet over the next century leaving many of the Chesapeake bay’s lower islands underwater. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Water is pooled in front of a old church after a Chesapeake Bay high tide earlier in the week October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Rubber boats are one of many items sold at the Hoopers Island General Store October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Donny Willey moves back grave markers at the Anchor of Hope Cemetery that is slowly eroding into the Chesapeake Bay. October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Willey has volunteered his time to try and save the cemetery from erosion but cannot get a permit from the state of Maryland to erect a seawall. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 150 men, women, and children. Individuals from the War of 1812 to slaves and freed slaves, from the founding family of Hoopers Island to veterans of several wars are buried here. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- The grave marker of WWII veteran Sangston M. Ross is surrounded by tall weeds in the black section of the Anchor of Hope Cemetery which is slowly eroding away from the riding waters of the Chesapeake Bay. October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Donny Willey has volunteered his time to try and save the cemetery from erosion but cannot get a permit from the state of Maryland to erect a seawall. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 150 men, women, and children. Individuals from the War of 1812 to slaves and freed slaves, from the founding family of Hoopers Island to veterans of several wars are buried here. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Donny Willey straightens grave markers at the Anchor of Hope Cemetery that is slowly eroding into the Chesapeake Bay. October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Willey has volunteered his time to try and save the cemetery from erosion but cannot get a permit from the state of Maryland to erect a seawall. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 150 men, women, and children. Individuals from the War of 1812 to slaves and freed slaves, from the founding family of Hoopers Island to veterans of several wars are buried here. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- An old house sits vacant and dilapidated October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Sand and debris cover a road after a Chesapeake Bay high tide earlier in the week October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Graves sit at the waters edge of the Anchor of Hope Cemetery which is slowly eroding away from the rising waters of the Chesapeake Bay. October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Donny Willey has volunteered his time to try and save the cemetery from erosion but cannot get a permit from the state of Maryland to erect a seawall. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 150 men, women, and children. Individuals from the War of 1812 to slaves and freed slaves, from the founding family of Hoopers Island to veterans of several wars are buried here. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Water has pooled in a home’s back yard after a Chesapeake Bay high tide earlier in the week October 8, 2014 in Hoopers Island, Maryland. Several islands in the Chesapeake Bay region are slowly eroding away as sea levels are projected to rise several feet over the next century. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
In cities like Norfolk, Va., and Annapolis, Md., coastal flooding has become more frequent. Beyond the cities, seawater and tidal marsh have consumed farmland and several once-inhabited islands. Here in Accomack County alone, encroaching seawater is converting an estimated 50 acres of farmland into wetlands each year, according to a 2009 Environmental Protection Agency study.
Officials have added more than $100 million in new structures over the past five years and spent $43 million more to fortify the shoreline with sand. Nearly a third of that new sand has since been washed away.
“It breaks my heart to think about it,” said Grayson Chesser, a decoy carver whose ancestors arrived in the Chesapeake Bay area four centuries ago.
He lives outside Saxis, a town that’s losing ground to the water. Some nearby villages have disappeared altogether.
“You’ve got to deal with the fact that it’s happening,” he said. “And what are you going to do with those of us on the edge?”
It’s a question the U.S. government is dodging. More than 300 counties claim a piece of more than 86,000 miles of tidal coastline in the United States, yet no clear national policy determines which locations receive help to protect their shorelines. That has left communities fighting for attention and resources, lest they be abandoned to the sea, as is playing out in Chincoteague.
“If we can’t make a decision about rising sea level in a parking lot, we’re in trouble as a nation,” said Louis Hinds, former manager of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.
Tidal waters worldwide have climbed an average of 8 inches over the past century, according to the 2014 National Climate Assessment. The two main causes are the volume of water added to oceans from glacial melt and the expansion of that water from rising sea temperatures. – Reuters reports
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