U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Water managers in Keene, New Hampshire, assessed the vulnerability of their water assets to enhance their resilience to the impacts of a changing climate.

Widespread damage from flooding at the Texas Medical Center in Houston revealed the complex's vulnerabilities. Implementing a long-term hazard mitigation plan is reducing future risks.

Wildfire is a naturally occurring phenomenon that doesn’t recognize political boundaries. When large fires rage in parts of North America, the countries of Canada, the United States, and Mexico strive to work together to share firefighting resources.

In North Carolina's Outer Banks, the coastal Town of Nags Head is vulnerable to flooding from heavy rain events, hurricanes, tropical storms, nor’easters, and storm surge. To add insult to injury, vulnerability is increasing with sea level rise. Town managers and residents recognized the need to build the town's resilience and moved forward to prioritize and plan.

After a series of extreme weather events, the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, looked for ways to prepare for future storms. Their planning process had just started when they got hit again...

Educating local middle-schoolers about emergency preparedness allows the small city of Miami to build climate resilience in an accessible way—and broach the topic of climate change.

In Massachusetts, Manchester-by-the-Sea's wastewater treatment plant is located right on the coast. The town's water utility is working with the EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities program to consider its adaptation options.

When smoke from wildfires swirls around health care facilities, prepared hospitals in California and Colorado use air quality tools to keep the indoor environment safe for patients and staff.

A federal study assessed vulnerabilities of transportation infrastructure to extreme events in Mobile, Alabama. The effort also resulted in tools and approaches that other transportation departments can use to assess and address their own vulnerabilities.

The city charts its path to resilience by focusing on extreme weather and interdepartmental collaboration.

Differences in social vulnerability across Richmond meant that the city's resilience plan didn't work equally well for all neighborhoods. To enhance their plan, the city worked with partners to develop a novel tool—the Climate Equity Index—to document neighborhood vulnerability to climate impacts,

The four member tribes of the Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation collaborated on a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, resulting in a quantified assessment of their shared concerns and establishment of a common foundation for future adaptation efforts.

Following a role play simulation on community planning for climate adaptation in Georgetown County, South Carolina, participants reported increased empathy for differing viewpoints and a high level of support for stakeholder engagement in planning processes.

After conducting an assessment that showed their building’s vulnerability to wind damage, the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami looked for a way to improve safety for patients and staff.

Middle school students are working to help residents recognize and reduce flood risk in their coastal Georgia city. Their efforts are also earning the community credits to lower their costs for flood insurance.

Frequent and severe inland flooding is an increasing problem for North Carolina's transportation system. A multi-agency team is working to understand the impacts of these floods—and to consider possible solutions.

After a series of storms ravaged Puerto Rican beaches, a team from the University of Puerto Rico used innovative restoration techniques—including biomimicry—to create resilient dune systems that provide protection from coastal storms.