Understanding how flood risk managers describe and adapt to non-storm flood events in low-lying coastal jurisdictions of the US central Atlantic coastline

Abstract As sea levels continue to rise, coastal non-storm flooding, i.e. flooding which occurs without rainfall or storm induced wave and surge, is becoming a frequent hazard in coastal communities. Despite its growing impact, this type of flooding is often overlooked in flood risk management. Non-storm flooding is characterized in multiple ways in the risk management literature, including as “nuisance flooding”, “high-tide flooding”, or “sunny-day flooding”. To understand how local coastal managers define and respond to non-storm flooding, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 36 flood risk management practitioners on the United States’ central Atlantic coastline across North and South Carolina. Participants responded to questions on local terminology, flooding drivers, impacts, and adaptation strategies. Findings show that coastal non-storm flooding is primarily driven by tides though secondary drivers and the nature of local flood impacts vary widely across communities with major impacts concentrated in micro-scale hotspots, particularly low-lying, creek-adjacent, and historic neighborhoods. Transportation disruption and service interruption emerge as dominant impacts, often occurring without major structural damage. Current adaptation strategies often rely on tidal valves, pump stations, and regulatory flood maps, which frequently fail to capture localized and compound flooding processes. Together, these findings reveal a misalignment between chronic non-storm flooding risks and existing flood risk management frameworks. Addressing this gap requires locally grounded terminology, micro-scale assessments, and evaluation approaches that account for cumulative disruption beyond physical property damage.