The east coast has been hit by floods as far back as both written, oral, and geological history tells us. In fact the army corp of engineers and predecessors have been building, dykes, dams, spillways, and sea walls all over the north east since colonial times. Saying this doesn't make me a climate denier. I'm just putting things in perspective. Each year the east coast of the US geologically moves in one fashion or another due to plate tectonics, ice age recessions, and erosion more than the forecasted sea level change (which by the way has been consistently wrong- over estimated for the last fifty years) Scientists need to better separate their hypothesizes from facts. The basic facts are that there is more damage because there are more people who want an ocean front view. Just compare ocean front pictures from the 18 hundreds to now. People are packed in like tuna in can. Of course there is more damage. That's because there are too many people.