Buildings at Risk

Much of Barnstable County lies within areas that are vulnerable to flooding from storms and sea level rise, putting many structures at risk. These include FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) within the 1% annual flood extent, which is mapped to identify vulnerable structures. The Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) is also used to identify structures vulnerable to flooding during future time horizons. The MC-FRM accounts for sea level rise due to continued high emissions of greenhouse gases and storm surges associated with coastal storms (hurricanes and northeasters).

Across Cape Cod, the number of buildings within the 2050 and 2070 MC-FRM extents is higher than the FEMA SFHA. In Barnstable County, approximately 12% of buildings are within the FEMA SFHA and approximately 23% of buildings are within the MC-FRM 2070 extent. The potential impacts due to loss of structures are widespread across all of Barnstable County, with particularly high levels of loss in low-elevation coastal areas, though the extent of vulnerability varies from town to town. Local and regional planning efforts must take current and future flood projections into consideration when identifying areas for protection and redevelopment.

Hover over the charts in the dashboard for more information including assessed building value. 

Download an Excel file of the Buildings at Risk Dashboard data.