An estimated $6.3 billion-plus worth of tax-ratable property could be underwater by 2050

Hurricane Ian stunned Floridians with its destructive force. But its display of the ocean’s power to obliterate neighborhoods like Sanibel Island in a single storm distracts many people from another, more widespread threat — the inexorable power of rapidly rising sea levels. A new study predicts that by 2050, the New Jersey coast could see more than 50 square miles go underwater at high tide, regularly submerging some 6,000 buildings.

 

The report, by Climate Central, shows high tide lines creeping inland as sea levels rise and New Jersey’s geological shoreline sinks. Don Bain, who wrote the report, figures that by 2050 rising seas could submerge homes and properties, including tax ratables worth more than $6.3 billion, in 17 New Jersey counties. Read more from NJ Spotlight News.