Flooding during high tides will sharply increase as sea levels rise, and the number of floods could triple in just 15 years, according to a report released Wednesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Portland’s current 11.2 flooding events every year could reach more than 30 floods a year by 2045, according to the group’s analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tide gauges from Freeport to Texas.

For some coastal cities, flooding could happen hundreds of times a year, to the point where they “would become unusable in the near future,” the group said.

“This report shows that, within the time frame of a 30-year mortgage, many East Coast communities will see dramatic changes in the number and severity of tidal floods each year, unless, of course, successful steps are taken to manage those floodwaters,” said Erika Spanger-Siegfried, report co-author and a senior analyst at UCS.

Most extensive coastal flooding today is the result of high winds blowing extreme high tides inland. The group projects that in 30 years, about half of the 52 cities they studied, located between Freeport, Maine, and Texas, would have that kind of flooding with tides alone.

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