The map shows how floodplains in East Boston expand as climate change worsens. Areas with a 1% chance of flooding each year are in the floodplain. The darkest blue shading shows the current floodplain; the lighter shade shows the floodplain in 2030; and the lightest blue shows the floodplain in 2070. Right now, there are two areas where water can enter East Boston. But by 2030, rising seas will probably expose two more pathways for water to enter the neighborhood. Courtesy of the City of Boston
But, the transforming coastline is raising tough questions about Boston’s broader “Climate Ready” plan: Will it go far enough to prevent flooding, will the private developments builtunder its policies accelerate gentrification in flood-prone neighborhoods, and how will the city pay for necessary public improvements, such as flood walls and elevated roads?
East Boston, the city’s most flood-vulnerable neighborhood, is the proving ground.
To address sea level rise, city planners envision a mix of public and private projects that, like a skinny jigsaw puzzle, would fit together to create one long coastal barrier: elevated streets, flood barriers disguised as sloping parks, and new developments on higher ground.
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In other words, the plan is to plug all the holes along the coastline where seawater could penetrate. When all is said and done, it could cost more than $3 billion.
“Are we going to be ready? I don’t know,” said Ellen Douglas, a climate scientist and lead author of Boston’s foundational climate impact report that the city used to guide its adaptation strategy.
Climate scientists expect the long-held international target of keeping the planet below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, compared to the preindustrial era, is probably out of reach. Still, with strong action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, global warming could be limited to about 2 degrees.
For Boston, 2 degrees could mean anywhere from about 5 inches to more than 60 inches of sea level rise by 2070.
Already the seas along the Boston shoreline reach about 3 inches higher than in 2000; scientists and policymakers believe that about 9 more inches over the next few decades are unavoidable. So, for planning purposes, the city picked a rise of 40 inches, or about 3.5 feet, by 2070.
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Water flooded a street in East Boston during high tide on Dec. 23. Boston’s “Climate Ready” projects to protect neighborhoods from such flooding as climate change worsens would cost more than $3 billion, according to the city. The projects would be financed by federal, state and local governments, and by some private developers and businesses that own the land. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
If that 40-inch figure comes to pass, thousands of homes in East Boston would be affected by flood waters during a severe storm, according to a city analysis, and with no additional protection, losses could rack up to hundreds of millions of dollars annuallythrough the 2070s.
For neighborhoods most at risk — South Boston, East Boston, Downtown and the North End, Dorchester, and Charleston — a detailed planning process identified the vulnerable areas in each and the corresponding public or private engineering projects that could protect them.
Projects that city planners expect could protect East Boston from sea level rise and coastal flooding are shown as part of the city’s final report on coastal adaptation for the neighborhood. The “Climate Ready” plan lays out a skinny jigsaw puzzle of elevated streets, deployable flood barriers, berms disguised as sloping parks, and new developments built on higher ground to protect neighborhoods from the encroaching sea. Courtesy of the City of Boston
Much of the land that needs fortifying is privately held, and Boston’s climate strategy continues to allow developers to build right on the water. That has irked some environmental advocates who say the land should not be redeveloped, but rather restored as a natural barrier.
But Catherine McCandless, a climate resilience project manager for the city, says the projects will protect the communities and in many cases create new public green spaces.
“Assuming we can move forward with all the projects that we’re intending to, I think we will be able to preserve the safety and functionality of these different neighborhoods,” McCandless said.
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East Boston is almost completely surrounded by water. The bustling peninsula is home to Boston Logan International Airport, an ecologically important salt marsh, and more than 45,000 residents, most of them Latino, and many of them immigrants.
Now, after years of planning, it’s time to come up with the money.
The biggest holdup: Boston is waiting on a study by the US Army Corps of Engineers, a prerequisite to unlocking federal funds necessary for dozens of small projects.
Stacia Sheputa, a spokesperson for Boston’s environmental office, said the Wu administration allocated $111 million for coastal resilience projects, the most in city history. But in East Boston alone, the city expects these coastal adaptation projectsto cost more than $800 million between now and 2070.
Some projects are done: An expansion and elevation of Piers Park, which is owned by MassPort, cost $20 million. Others in the offing include a $39 million project along a stretch of Border Street that would elevate roadways, parks, the Harbor Walk and docks, and install flood walls.
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Next to the Clippership Wharf condominiums, in an area now called Carlton’s Wharf, rising seas could penetrate a gap between buildings and spread into the mostly flat interior of Eastie.There,the city imagines flood walls disguised as part of an elevated harbor walk.
Flooding on Lewis Street in East Boston at high tide.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
Sheputa, the city spokesperson, said it’s “difficult to quantify” how much money on climate resiliency has been spent on East Boston so far because the waterfront is owned by businesses and various government entities.
Boston is trying to get creative with funding. For the Carlton Wharf project, previously known as the Clippership Hodge Berm, the Boston Planning and Development Agency applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for funding. But the application, which planners say they filed in 2022, hasn’t been approved.
“I believed … that we would have already been through the FEMA process by now,” said Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, Boston’s chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space, during a public meeting about coastal resilience in late January. “That is a barrier.”
Climate scientists and public policy researchers have largely praised Boston’s little-by-little approach. It’s more flexible than, say, a massive concrete barrier in the ocean (an idea that was studied and discarded as being both ineffective and too expensive). It should be easier to finance, too.
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Without big dollars from the feds, though, Boston in the interim is relying on public-private agreements and policy changes to nudge its “Climate Ready” goals along, such as new design guidelines that encourage developers to elevate their buildings.
But Chris Marchi, an environmental activist in East Boston, said that so far, such efforts look more like gentrification than climate resiliency, and asserted that the neighborhood’s most pressing needs — including affordable housing and better air quality — are falling to the wayside.
WhileMayor Michelle Wu’s administration has greatly expanded the city’s focus on climate issues in the neighborhood, Marchi said,“it doesn’t seem like anybody in East Boston is any safer than they were, you know, 10 or 15 years ago.”
“It doesn’t seem like we’re very far along,” Marchi said.
Sheputa, the city spokesperson, said the high cost of housing is one of the mayor’s top concerns and pointed to the East Boston Neighborhood Trust’s acquisition of several multi-family buildings, an effort that the city helped fund.
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A deployable floodwall partially set-up in East Boston’s greenway. The floodwall could be used during a major flood event, and is currently stored at the East Boston Memorial Park, according to a city spokesperson.Courtesy of the City of Boston
John Walkey, a local environmentalist and director of waterfront and climate justice initiatives with the community-based organization GreenRoots, called the requirements for developers “minimal.”
He and other environmental advocates have called for “nature-based” solutions — such as reinforced dunes and restored wetlands — instead of allowing more development right on the coastline.
Sheputa said the city has a “strong preference” for those strategies.
But in most places along Boston’s shoreline, experts point out, there is little left of nature to enhance: The land is built up, and moreover, is not controlled by the city.
Paul Kirshen, a civil engineer and climate adaptation professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said the shortage of space to create nature-based solutions is a “killer.”
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“The land constraint is really binding right now,” said Kirshen, who is also research director of the Stone Living Lab, an initiative that tests nature-based solutions.
But Walkey, of GreenRoots, thinks it’s more a question of political will.
If a developer offers to put in luxury housing, he said, “it becomes very hard for the city to say no. … [It’s] how the city makes its budget.”
Erin Douglas can be reached at erin.douglas@globe.com. Folow her @erinmdouglas23.
As tensions remain high in the Middle East, travel continues to be impacted across the globe.
Flights to and from the Middle East keep getting canceled at Boston Logan International Airport, and there were no signs of improvement Sunday as Americans are left scrambling to get to safety. The Trump administration has promised to help but getting out isn’t easy.
Several flights from Dubai to Boston were canceled Sunday, and aviation experts say about 3,000 seats per day go through Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Without them, people are trying to get home through Europe or Asia.
When not in use by the team during the NFL season, the Patriots team plane is operated by a charter company for various flights.
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Meanwhile, Iran’s busiest airport was hit by strikes with Israel later saying it was being used to transfer weapons to regime allies in the region.
The Iranian foreign minister spoke on Meet the Press Sunday about what it would take to agree to a ceasefire and ultimately end the war.
“Nobody wants to continue this war. This is not our war. This is not a war of our choice. This is imposed on us by the United States, by Israelis…” Abbas Araghchi said. “People have been killed. Places have been destroyed and now they want to ask for a ceasefire again? This doesn’t work like this.”
With no clear end to this conflict and airlines backed up as it is, experts say it will take a while to get people where they need to go, though the State Department says it has chartered many flights to bring Americans home, including chartering the Patriots plane.
The Iranian strike on Bahrain came after Tehran accused the US of hitting one of its desalination plants. Persian Gulf countries relay on the civilian infrastructure for most of their fresh drinking water, and sustained attacks could compound the impact of a war that’s already rattled the stability of financial hubs in the region.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had instructed the military not to attack any nation that isn’t striking the Islamic Republic and apologized to neighboring countries. Trump said the remarks amounted to a surrender, but Tehran pressed ahead with strikes.
“When the enemy attacks us from bases in the region, we respond and will continue to respond. That’s our right and it’s a standing policy,” Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on state television on Saturday. “Countries in the region must either prevent the US from using their territory against Iran themselves, or we will.”
The Iranian president’s comments drew domestic anger, prompting speculation of a rift between him and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which coordinates Iran’s missile program and regional militia alliances, according to Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute.
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On Sunday, Pezeshkian said Iran’s adversaries had drawn “naive conclusions” from his earlier remarks, adding Tehran is “compelled” to respond to aggression carried out from other countries.
Iran’s armed forces have the capacity to sustain at least six months of high-intensity war at the current pace and will start using more advanced, rarely-used long-range missiles in coming days, state news agency IRIB said Sunday, citing the Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Trump said on Saturday that the US will consider striking areas and groups of people in Iran that weren’t previously considered targets.
Israeli jets targeted Iranian oil depots in the Kuhak and Shahran areas of Tehran as well as the nearby city of Karaj, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen separately said targets including oil refineries and power stations were on the table and acknowledged an escalation in attacks.
Explosions were heard in parts of the city, where authorities urged residents to wear face masks and stay indoors, citing the air pollution risks from the debris clouds.
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The semi-official Iranian Students News Agency reported that the Red Crescent had warned the explosion of fuel-storage tanks had released massive amounts of hazardous particles into the atmosphere.
The UAE, which pumped more than 3.5 million barrels a day as OPEC’s third-biggest producer in January, started cutting oil production at its offshore fields. Kuwait, OPEC’s fifth-biggest producer, reduced crude oil and refinery production, citing the “ongoing aggression” by Iran.
The Trump administration pushed back against worries around surging energy costs as a result of the war, with US gasoline prices rising to the highest since September 2024. US crude futures ended the week above $90 a barrel — more than $20 higher than last Friday — and notched the biggest weekly percentage gain on record in data going back to the 1980s.
Shares of Saudi Aramco climb as much as 4.9% on Sunday, the most in nearly three years.
Bahrain said three people were injured after shrapnel from intercepted missiles fell on the country. Separately, a water desalination plant in the country was damaged by an Iranian drone attack but water supplies remain unaffected, Bahrain said on Sunday.
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Saudi Arabia intercepted a drone heading toward its Shaybah oil field, three others east of the capital Riyadh and shot down three more in the city. Defense forces thwarted an attempt on the Diplomatic Quarter, where the US embassy is located, in the first confirmed targeting of the area since early last week.
At least one person was killed in Dubai due to “debris from an aerial interception,” the emirate said.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan made a rare public appearance to warn Iran to stop attacking it. “The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh — we are no easy prey,” he said.
Australia is assessing a request from Gulf nations for defensive military support to protect them against Iranian drone and missile attacks, but declined to say what it might provide.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday there would have to be a “very good reason” for the US to deploy ground troops to Iran, adding that Iranian forces would likely have to be so decimated they wouldn’t be able to resist. The US president also said he had ruled out the idea of armed Kurdish forces entering Iran to join the fight.
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Trump added the war would continue “for a little while” and oil prices would come back down.
China, which is a significant buyer of Iranian oil, has called for a ceasefire. But Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday signaled that Beijing won’t allow the conflict to affect its relationship with Washington ahead of a planned meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The war began after the US and Israel struck the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28,and more than a dozen countries have been sucked into the fray. Iran has so far reported 1,332 deaths, alongside widespread destruction. Scores of others were killed elsewhere in the region, while six US service members have lost their lives.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the country’s next supreme leader, the semi‑official Mehr news agency said citing council member Ahmad Alamolhoda, without providing a name. He replaces Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed on the first day of the conflict. Mojtaba Khamenei, the slain leader’s second-oldest son, was viewed as being a possible pick.
Airlines remain hamstrung by the conflict, with the number of canceled flights to Middle East hubs surpassing 27,000 since fighting began. Thousands of passengers remained stranded in the Gulf region, although on Friday Emirates said it’s aiming for a return to full network operations in coming days.
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–With assistance from Onur Ant, Shamim Adam, Dan Williams, Neil Munshi, Patrick Sykes, Christine Burke, Dana Khraiche and Leen Al-Rashdan.
BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Dorchester on Saturday afternoon that left a person hospitalized, officials said.
Officers responding to a reported shooting in the area of 480 Quincy St. around 3 p.m. found a person suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to Boston police. The person was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their injuries.
Ballistic evidence was recovered nearby in the area of Coleman Street.
No arrests have been made.
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No additional information was immediately available.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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