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Communities, businesses, and individuals are taking action to document their vulnerabilities and build resilience to climate-related impacts. Click dots on the map to preview case studies, or browse stories below the map. Use the drop-down menus above to find stories of interest. To expand your results, click the Clear Filters link.
The City of Houston faces an array of climate vulnerabilities: flooding, drought, tropical cyclones, and extreme heat can all affect the city's population and industries. Government and non-profit agencies in the region combined their resources in a pilot project to plan for climate resilience.
In Culebra, Puerto Rico, the community used green infrastructure to decrease coastal erosion and mitigate damage to their near-shore coral reef.
Flooding from rain and extreme high tides often leaves the road to San Francisco's China Camp State Park inaccessible. So a diverse group of stakeholders, with support from NOAA’s Science Collaborative team, proposed raising the road.
After catastrophic flooding in New Orleans destroyed two hospitals, the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System is planning a replacement facility that will incorporate resilience against future extreme events.
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.
Staff at the City of Toledo partnered with government agencies, local businesses, and non-profit organizations to consider and begin implementing green infrastructure projects to deal with flooding. Their work also inspired a guide advising other communities how they could do the same.
Researchers identified areas vulnerable to urban growth in Pender County, North Carolina. The team analyzed land cover change, mapped wetlands in coastal areas, and used census and business data to determine the level of flood risk in areas with high urbanization. This has helped planners understand trends in the development growth of the county and informed local government planning regulations.
Many remote coastal communities in Alaska currently have no formal storm history data, flood risk analysis, or way to predict and assess flooding impacts to their communities. These communities are at risk of flooding due to climate change and other coastal hazards such as storms.
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.
Cleveland Metroparks needed to consider how to engage surrounding neighborhoods and residents in restoring Lake Erie’s eastern shorefront. They worked closely with community-based organizations and stakeholders to conduct virtual and in-person outreach activities and develop multilingual engagement materials for all ages.
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...
To better prepare for current and future sea level rise, four counties in South Florida joined forces to agree upon consistent sea level rise mapping methods.
Residents of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, have found an unlikely but financially rewarding pairing: county efforts to keep mosquito populations under control are reducing residents' flood insurance premiums.
The City of Long Beach, California, sees signs of climate change on land and in the ocean. After compiling the City's official climate assessment report, local stakeholders also produced a more accessible and user-friendly summary version and shared it broadly to stimulate informed discussion and decision making across the city.
Faced with challenges that force some villages to relocate, three governing entities worked together to come up with a single plan to keep residents and buildings safe while a longer-term solution is developed.
Faced with episodic high-tide flooding, partners in Charleston, South Carolina, calculated the potential extent and frequency of similar flooding in the future. Focus group feedback on this information helped organizers design an informative fact sheet.
Sea level rise is changing the shoreline of San Francisco Bay, endangering homes, habitats, and vital infrastructure. Stakeholders from a diverse array of sectors around the Bay are participating in preparations through a regional partnership.
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.
To build the city's resilience, Boston requires that new buildings and renovation projects follow best practices for climate change adaptation.
Partners in the Keyswide Home Elevation Education Project developed trainings and informational materials to demystify the process and increase knowledge on home elevation. Materials help answer homeowners' and contractors' questions about costs, methods, barriers, permitting, duration, and financing.
People who live on low-lying islands are reminded daily of the threat they face from coastal flooding. An unexpected disaster prompted a community in the Republic of the Marshall Islands to consider how to notify people of potential events and help them know how to respond.
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.
Once a defunct golf course, Exploration Green is now a 200-acre urban green space providing the community with an innovative solution for their stormwater flooding and recreational needs.
Built very close to sea level, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston implemented innovative strategies to keep critical infrastructure and patient care above future flood levels.
With a changing climate threatening assets in the Great Lakes, local experts formed a boundary organization to bridge the gap between scientists and decision makers.
After witnessing what happened in New York City during Hurricane Sandy, Boston city leaders were determined to get ahead of their potential problems. To do so, they convened a diverse coalition of residents and worked to craft a comprehensive plan to adapt to climate change.
The City of Mandeville, located in St. Tammany Parish, decided to commit to helping residents escape troublesome flood waters. Finally tiring of the constant issue of a repeated damage-repair cycle, city officials decided to act by adopting high regulatory standards for the elevation of homes and businesses.
Several times per year, seawater floods some of the streets in Charleston, South Carolina. Taking steps to deal with this "nuisance" flooding can help the city prepare for sea level rise.
At the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, the city of Norfolk, Virginia, lies within ten feet of sea level. It's taking steps to envision and implement a resilient future.
Local governments often lack capacity to implement coastal resilience projects. This department provided voluntary incentives for communities to partner with their local governments in developing and implementing resilience strategies.
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.
Changing conditions spur a utility in Washington, D.C., to consider and address its future climate vulnerabilities.
Louisiana’s Highway 1 carries a significant fraction of the gas and oil that comes from the Gulf of Mexico to distribution points in the United States. Faced with rising seas and sinking land, would the cost of rebuilding the road be worth the investment it required?
Residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast are familiar with the flooding hazards associated with storms, yet many are unaware of the risk of sea level rise. Shoppers at a local mall had a chance to explore the potential impacts of sea level rise on their communities.
City officials in Tybee Island, Georgia, recognized sea level rise as a growing problem for their community. Visualizations from a sea level rise viewer helped them raise awareness of the city's vulnerabilities and led to development of Georgia’s first sea level rise plan.
The coastal “Lowcountry” region of South Carolina faces unique vulnerabilities to climate change. Researchers engaged with this social and ecological community to determine how strong community resilience can promote adaptive capacity in light of a rapidly changing world.