Coastal Flooding

Hazard in Flooding

A tide-and-surge hazard that pushes seawater into shoreline neighborhoods, increasingly on sunny days as well as in storms.

Plans also call it: coastal flood, tidal flooding, lakeshore flooding, high tide flooding, nuisance flooding, king tide, sunny-day flooding, sea level rise

Talk to us about Coastal FloodingAll 73 hazards →

What you’d hand your council

The first page of a Coastal Flooding evidence brief: likelihood, impact and readiness on your own scale, every figure sourced.

Evidence brief for Cedar Ridge County (example)

September 14, 2026

Coastal Flooding

Hazard in Flooding, on the established threats & hazards list

Impact
5432112345

Likelihood

Likelihood
4

Likely — Expected within the decade — roughly once in 1 to 10 years (10–100% chance in any year).

Impact
3

Moderate — Notable effects — injuries possible, damage in multiple areas, essential services disrupted for days.

Readiness
2

Low — Some elements of capability are in place, but important gaps remain that could significantly limit the organization's ability to perform effectively. Additional development is needed before the capability can be relied upon.

  • 2source documents
  • 58verified mentions
  • 2federal declarations
  • 91.6NRI score, relatively high
Worked example: Cedar Ridge County is fictional. The scores illustrate the format and are nobody's decision. Open a full sample brief →

The national record

FEMA National Risk Index: Coastal Flooding

$993M
expected loss a year, nationally
89
counties rated high or very high

Your county’s own rating is the first thing we pull.

How it maps

The same hazard in the vocabularies your plan and FEMA already use.

FEMA National Risk Index
Coastal Flooding (CFLD)one of the 18 hazards NRI scores per county
FEMA declaration incident type
Coastal Storm31 declarations on record
NOAA Storm Events type
Coastal Flood, Lakeshore Flood, Astronomical Low Tide, Seiche
Hazzard category
Flooding, natural hazards

The national record

What the federal data says about Coastal Flooding

The same national sources a Hazzard brief starts from. For your jurisdiction we narrow each one to your county and its neighbors.

Where Coastal Flooding is rated high

Share of each state's counties FEMA rates Relatively High or Very High

Alabama: 2 of 5 counties rated high (40%) · $10M expected loss a yearAlaska: 0 of 7 counties rated high (0%) · $36K expected loss a yearArizona: not rated for Coastal FloodingArkansas: not rated for Coastal FloodingCalifornia: 8 of 20 counties rated high (40%) · $67M expected loss a yearColorado: not rated for Coastal FloodingConnecticut: 3 of 7 counties rated high (43%) · $31M expected loss a yearDelaware: 2 of 3 counties rated high (67%) · $19M expected loss a yearDistrict of Columbia: 0 of 1 counties rated high (0%) · $2M expected loss a yearFlorida: 16 of 47 counties rated high (34%) · $201M expected loss a yearGeorgia: 2 of 11 counties rated high (18%) · $21M expected loss a yearHawaii: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $2M expected loss a yearIdaho: not rated for Coastal FloodingIllinois: 0 of 2 counties rated high (0%) · $42K expected loss a yearIndiana: 0 of 3 counties rated high (0%) · $28K expected loss a yearIowa: not rated for Coastal FloodingKansas: not rated for Coastal FloodingKentucky: not rated for Coastal FloodingLouisiana: 10 of 29 counties rated high (34%) · $74M expected loss a yearMaine: 1 of 10 counties rated high (10%) · $17M expected loss a yearMaryland: 3 of 19 counties rated high (16%) · $28M expected loss a yearMassachusetts: 5 of 9 counties rated high (56%) · $61M expected loss a yearMichigan: 0 of 41 counties rated high (0%) · $561K expected loss a yearMinnesota: 0 of 3 counties rated high (0%) · $9K expected loss a yearMississippi: 3 of 5 counties rated high (60%) · $12M expected loss a yearMissouri: not rated for Coastal FloodingMontana: not rated for Coastal FloodingNebraska: not rated for Coastal FloodingNevada: not rated for Coastal FloodingNew Hampshire: 1 of 2 counties rated high (50%) · $12M expected loss a yearNew Jersey: 10 of 17 counties rated high (59%) · $146M expected loss a yearNew Mexico: not rated for Coastal FloodingNew York: 5 of 23 counties rated high (22%) · $70M expected loss a yearNorth Carolina: 5 of 28 counties rated high (18%) · $33M expected loss a yearNorth Dakota: not rated for Coastal FloodingOhio: 0 of 9 counties rated high (0%) · $214K expected loss a yearOklahoma: not rated for Coastal FloodingOregon: 2 of 10 counties rated high (20%) · $19M expected loss a yearPennsylvania: 1 of 4 counties rated high (25%) · $4M expected loss a yearRhode Island: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $5M expected loss a yearSouth Carolina: 4 of 11 counties rated high (36%) · $57M expected loss a yearSouth Dakota: not rated for Coastal FloodingTennessee: not rated for Coastal FloodingTexas: 2 of 21 counties rated high (10%) · $17M expected loss a yearUtah: not rated for Coastal FloodingVermont: not rated for Coastal FloodingVirginia: 2 of 46 counties rated high (4%) · $32M expected loss a yearWashington: 2 of 18 counties rated high (11%) · $47M expected loss a yearWest Virginia: not rated for Coastal FloodingWisconsin: 0 of 15 counties rated high (0%) · $145K expected loss a yearWyoming: not rated for Coastal Flooding
  • None
  • Up to 10%
  • 10–25%
  • 25–50%
  • Over 50%
  • Not rated
FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, county table

31 federal declarations since 1972

Declarations FEMA filed as “Coastal Storm”, by year (2026 to date)

0361972: 2 declarations1974: 1 declaration1980: 1 declaration1983: 1 declaration1991: 3 declarations1992: 1 declaration1993: 1 declaration1994: 1 declaration1998: 1 declaration2001: 3 declarations2002: 1 declaration2005: 6 declarations2011: 1 declaration2015: 1 declaration2018: 3 declarations2019: 1 declaration2020: 1 declaration2021: 1 declaration2022: 1 declaration2005: 619801990200020102020
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, as of 2026-09-27. Counts distinct disasters; major, emergency and fire-management declarations.

In your plan

What a Coastal Flooding profile needs, and where each part comes from

A local hazard mitigation plan profiles each hazard the same way (44 CFR 201.6). Here is how Hazzard fills each part for Coastal Flooding.

  1. Location

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    FEMA's National Risk Index rates Coastal Flooding for every county. We place yours against its neighbors and the state, then add what your plans map in more detail.

  2. Extent

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your documents

    The magnitude your plans use for Coastal Flooding (a scale, a depth, an acreage, a duration), read from your documents and cited, so the profile states the strength you plan for.

  3. Previous occurrences

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    Every FEMA declaration filed as Coastal Storm that included your county, back to 1953, alongside the events your own records and after-action reports describe.

  4. Probability of future events

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    NRI's annualized frequency for your county, and the declaration history, drafted into a likelihood on your own scale for your team to accept or change.

  5. Vulnerability and impacts

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(ii)

    National data

    NRI's expected annual loss and social vulnerability for your county, the Census population profile and HHS emPOWER counts, with the impacts your plans already describe.

  6. The assessment itself

    Your team decides

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Coastal Flooding are drafted with every source attached, and a person on your team accepts each one. Hazzard never records a score on its own.

How we can help

How we’d help you prepare for Coastal Flooding

  1. 1

    We pull your flood history

    Federal declarations, NRI's inland and coastal flooding ratings, and the mitigation projects FEMA has already funded in your county.

  2. 2

    We read your plans for each cause

    Mitigation plan, floodplain and dam safety material, so Coastal Flooding is profiled as its own thing instead of folded into “flooding”.

  3. 3

    You leave with a cited brief

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Coastal Flooding on your own scale, every figure tied to its source, ready for the planning team or the council.

Also in Flooding

Preparing for Coastal Flooding

Show where Coastal Flooding actually reaches, not just that it can.

Flooding is the most common declaration in the country, and each cause plans differently. We separate them in your evidence so the mitigation that follows is aimed at the right water. A person replies within one business day.

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