Flood Risk Adaptation in Chelsea, Massachusetts

The City of Chelsea is a coastal community that is facing an increased risk of flooding as climate change contributes to increased storm severity, sea level rise, and extreme heat events. The goal of this project was to provide flood adaptation strategy recommendations and relative cost estimates for public facilities critical to the City of Chelsea. Specifically, we evaluated five public facilities within the City to determine their structural and geographical characteristics that cause them to be at risk from coastal flood events, as well as their sensitivity to current and future flooding. Our team evaluated the probability of flooding for the critical facilities and compiled a set of adaptation strategies and supplemental materials with the support of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant College Program.