Just got this press release announcing that EPA will continue a promising-looking webcast series designed to help local governments adapt to climate change. While the blurb doesn’t say the program is specifically targeting coastal communities, it seems likely that much if not all of what they discuss will apply to all of us abutting the […]
Tag Archives | adaptation & mitigation
New Guidance for Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning
Posted on October 21, 2010
The Florida Department of Community Affairs and Florida Division of Emergency Management yesterday released its long-awaited Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning: A Guide for Florida Communities. From their announcement: Over the past four years the Department and the Division, guided by a statewide group of experts partnered to focus on community resiliency and long-term redevelopment through Post-Disaster […]
Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning Workshop
Posted on September 30, 2010
A new training opportunity for post-disaster development planning: Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning Workshop A one-day training workshop for urban and regional planners, emergency managers and citizens interested in planning for building more resilient communities after a disaster. This workshop will provide an introduction to post-disaster redevelopment planning, its benefits and the process for developing a plan; […]
An Argument for Not Returning to Normal [Editorial]
Posted on September 20, 2010
An interesting editorial by Global Ethics professor Tom Sorell on why our natural post-disaster instinct to return things to normal is so often exactly the wrong response, and why we instead ought to work to “usher in discontinuity.” The problem with returning to “normal” is obvious: we’re often returning to the same conditions that put […]
Webinar Series Includes Presentation on "Sea Level Rise and Property Rights"
Posted on September 8, 2010
The International Submerged Lands Management has announced its new conference dates. Unlike most conferences, this one takes place on your computer, so those of us with limited travel budgets can still participate. You can find a schedule of all the conference’s events on their website (and we’ll add the lot to the StormSmart Coasts Calendar), […]
FEMA Releases Guidance for 2011 Mitigation Grant Programs
Posted on July 21, 2010
Via the always useful CZMA Climate Change and Coastal Hazards E-News Update newsletter: The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) “Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program Guidance” (176 pp.) represents the unification of all five of the agency’s hazard mitigation grant programs into one guidance document. These programs, which provide funding for eligible mitigation activities that reduce […]
NOAA Announces New Coastal Resilience Networks Grant Program
Posted on July 20, 2010
From our friends at NOAA: CRest Grant Program – Coastal Resilience Networks Pacific Islands – Gulf of Mexico – West Coast Coastal Resilience Networks (CRest) is a new and exciting grant opportunity for the Pacific Islands, Gulf of Mexico, and West Coast regions. The program funds projects that help communities become more resilient to the […]
3ft of Freeboard? I'll Take 12ft!
Posted on July 19, 2010
After Hurricane Ike bashed a hole in their roof and left their first floor uninhabitable, FEMA experts recommended that Galveston (TX) residents Matt and Lauren Johnson elevate their home 3′ above the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program. The Johnsons went for 12′ instead. “Even if it costs us more now, whatever costs […]
Editorial Advises Better Planning and Building, NOT the Ike Dike
Posted on May 28, 2010
A new Houston Chronicle article argues that building the so-called “Ike Dike” will put more, not less people and property at great risk, and that the best way to protect property from hazards is to keep them out of hazardous areas. In “Forget the Ike Dike, let’s improve building methods” Texas A&M professor John Jacob […]
Texas Town Tightens Development Rules
Posted on May 12, 2010
The City Council of Galveston, Texas recently approved new beach-front construction regulations. The new rules push new development 75 feet back from the north toe of dunes, or 350 feet from the mean high-water line, whichever line is farther landward. They are seen locally as a compromise with some wanting stricter regulations while others did […]