Sea Level Rise Could Flood Bay Area Homes, According To New Map
ALAMEDA (CBS SF) - A new interactive map predicts where seal level rise will be in thirty years, and if it's right many homes in the Bay Area could be under water - literally.
Zillow Senior Economist, Cheryl Young says a lot of Bay Area houses may be in peril. "Over 30,000 homes are at risk in those flood zone areas of a major flood event and.
The total value of those homes is nearly $50 billion.
Zillow says Alameda County alone has more than 20,000 homes that may be effected by climate change. Pat Dear lives on one of the sea level rise streets."What kind of contingency, emergency plan do I need to think about now, is something I haven't really even thought about," she said.
Pat and his girlfriend are thinking about sea level change now. He says the environment is high on his priorities, so is the safety of his neighborhood. "Being so close to the shoreline and only a few feet off the ground normally, I mean it wouldn't much more that an earthquake 50 miles away from here and we prefer to have to have matters happen sooner rather than later."
Statewide, the predicted sea level rise could affect tens of thousands of homes valued at multiple billions of dollars. "There is going to be higher demand for insurance so, you know, there may be the possibility that insurance premiums may rise as we see more of these flood events," explains Young.
