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Because Baltimore, Maryland, is facing increased risks of coastal flooding from storms as sea level rises, federal officials have put forward a $138 million plan aimed at protecting the interstate highway tunnels and reducing flood damage to homes and businesses in low-lying waterfront neighborhoods. The draft plan is to build floodwalls around the openings to the Interstate 95 and Interstate 895 tunnels that carry traffic beneath the harbor. The plan doesn’t envision erecting any levees or other structures to hold back the water for the tourism-centric Inner Harbor and waterfront neighborhoods like Canton, Fells Point, Riverside and Locust Point.
The Baltimore metropolitan area has felt the effects of at least nine hurricanes or tropical storms since the 1950s, the Corps study noted. Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003, caused $4.8 million in property damage in the city and up to $252 million in total damages in the county. One person died in the floods, while more than 570 homes and 15 businesses were declared uninhabitable.