(Bloomberg) -- New York may face as many as 15 days of high-tide flooding in the next year, underscoring the city’s need to prepare for a growing threat of potentially deadly inundations linked to rising sea levels.

Floods that happen as a result of storm surges are now likely to happen during a full moon or with a change in currents or prevailing winds, officials with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday, when it announced its forecast. Last year the city experienced 13 flood days, the agency said.

Often referred to as “nuisance” or “sunny day” floods, such occurrences will become more common as climate change and other factors cause sea levels to rise, said NOAA officials. In September, remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped more than 3 inches of rain in New York in one hour, flooding subway stations, submerging basement apartments and killing more than a dozen people.

Outside of the five boroughs, the NOAA said that several parts of the country broke high-tide flooding records, a trend that is expected to continue if communities do not work to strengthen their flood defenses.

“The East and Gulf coasts already experienced twice as many days of high-tide flooding compared to the year 2000, flooding shorelines, streets and basements and damaging critical infrastructure,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

Flood records were set in Delaware, South Carolina, and the Marshall Islands. In Reedy Point, Delaware, there were six days of sunny day flooding. Near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, there were 11 days while in the Pacific’s Marshall Islands, there were four. Twenty-two years ago, these locations would only flood anywhere from zero to two days a year.

With the current rate of sea level rise, NOAA estimates that New York could see 60 to 85 days of flooding a year by 2050.

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Author: Kevin Simauchi