Regional Coastal Resilience Products

This page is dedicated to community results from the 2016 NOAA Office for Coastal Management 3-year grant to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. In-depth reports and results related to community actions are found here.

Gap Analysis: Identify priority data, information, and capacity gaps

Objective: Conduct a gap analysis for at least 50 communities to reduce current and future risks associated with extreme weather and climate hazard events. Address the natural, built, socioeconomic and human health systems of Gulf Coast communities in the analysis.

Tools: Enhance or adapt tools being used or those identified for use

Objective: Update the existing Homeowners Handbooks to inform personal science-based decisions. Updates should support regional efforts to create more resilient coastal communities and economies.

 

Community Small Grants: Implement community projects that incentivize approaches that reduce risk and increase resilience

Objective: Implement a small-grant program for coastal communities around the Gulf of Mexico to develop and/or implement resilient practices.

    • New Port Richey, Florida
      The city identified a need for new equipment to protect the city from flood events. They used funds to purchase a new pump to help divert water from large retention areas. It freed other small pumps to help residents with smaller flooding issues.
    • South Florida Regional Planning Council
      This project focused on Islamorada in the Florida Keys. The community identified a need for high resolution data to look at potential storm surge and sea level rise impacts. They used LIDAR and storm surge data to redefine the Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA) for a category 1 storm at current sea levels and two future sea level scenarios. The information helped identify assets under current and future risk within the CHHA.

Translating Science to Policy in Planning for Sea-Level Rise and Storm Surge

    • Fairhope, Alabama
      The City of Fairhope placed stormwater infrastructure information for the Tatumville Gully watershed into the city’s GIS system. They plan to generate hydrologic/hydraulic models necessary to evaluate and predict stormwater flows/levels, using current conditions as a baseline. With this information they can design appropriate mitigation measures.

South Fairhope Community Action Plan

    • City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi
      The need for continuity planning rose to the top of the city’s Community Resilience Index conversations. Ocean Springs developed a business continuity plan. They worked with the local Chamber of Commerce to identify standards for business continuity plans and offered competitive grants to local businesses to share the cost of preparing the plans.

Handout Planning for Continuity: Is Your Business Prepared?

    • Covington, Louisiana
      The City of Covington identified a need to accurately notify residents of flash flood events and education them about the appropriate response. The city created a flood preparation and response plan, completed an emergency response exercise based on the plan, provided education materials to residents, and hosted a workshop to share lessons learned with neighboring communities. Louisiana Sea Grant and the local CRS users group (FLOAT) were key partners.

City of Covington Flood Response Newsletter
Covington Flood Response Plan with Resolution
Covington Final Situation Overview October 2018

    • Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana
      The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana worked with Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes to develop and install an oyster bed surge protection system to preserve a culturally significant site sacred to a local Native American Tribe.

Compilation of Project Promotion & Press Coverage
Informal oyster shell shoreline restoration movie

    • South Padre Island, Texas
      The city’s vulnerability assessment process identified a need to increase public access to new ecotourism sites, expand public education programming, and convert low-lying vulnerable lands to conservation areas. The city developed a Master Plan to include these issues and to help identify and preserve aquatic habitats (such as wetlands and mangroves) that provide protection from sea level rise and storm surge.

South Padres Island Shoreline Master Plan
Translating Science to Policy in Planning for Sea-Level Rise and Storm Surge

    • Aransas County, Texas
      Aransas County worked to enhance their resilience in the county’s Community Resilience Index conversations. They collected documentation, assessed plans and ordinances, completed the CRS Quick Check, and other activities needed to complete and submit a CRS application.

Floodplain Permitting Process and Community Ratings System (CRS) Activities Aransas County, Texas
Aransas County, Texas Flood Control Information and CRS Resources

Climate and Resilience Community of Practice (CoP): Develop information and approaches needed for improved risk communication, and the necessary tools, technical assistance and training tailored toward enhanced resilience to weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions

Objective: Form a Resilience Community of Practice (RCoP) and invite the gap analysis communities, the existing GOMA small-grant communities (supported through a separate funding opportunity), the new small grant communities, and members of the GOMA Resilience and Habitat Teams. They will meet annually to share enhancement strategies and share lessons learned. Incorporate the Gulf Sea Grant Climate Community of Practice agenda items into the RCoP so that a holistic approach is available to communities.

  • Climate and Resilience Community of Practice video recap

Resilience Roadmap: Develop a roadmap that will identify tools and services based on community needs and will provide sequencing strategies for building resilience to those communities.

Objective: Develop a Coastal Resilience Roadmap that can be used by communities and organizations who work to assist communities to become more resilient and increase their capacity to recover from adverse weather events or on-going climate hazards.