Collaboratory 2021 Flood Resilience Study

In 2019 the Collaboratory received $2 million in funding from the North Carolina General Assembly as part of a disaster recovery package approved by the legislature. The Collaboratory is charged with studying flood and resiliency against future storms in eastern North Carolina and developing an implementation plan with recommendations.

A team of researchers has developed a study plan and will be evaluating a number of issues, including:

• evaluating policies related to flood plain management, such as buyout of residential properties
• examining natural systems role in mitigating flooding
• assessing the vulnerability of critical infrastructure
• analyzing the financial risks associated with major weather events
• studying the public health impacts

The study’s final report was submitted to the legislature on June 1, 2021.

Project Updates

• Project Brief
• Interim Update to the North Carolina General Assembly: February 2021
• Presentation to the Senate Select Committee on Storm-Related River Debris and Damage in North Carolina

Project Reports

• Flood Resiliency: Data Collection and Data Analytic in Support of Flood Management
  Leila Hashemi Beni, North Carolina A&T University
• Floodplain Buyouts
  Todd BenDor, Department of City and Regional Planning, UNC-Chapel HillDavid Salvesen, UNC Institute for the Environment
• Financial Risk of Flood Events in Eastern North Carolina
  Greg Characklis, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Natural Systems: Improving Resilience to Coastal Riverine Flooding
  Barbara Doll, NC Sea Grant, North Carolina State University
• Natural Systems: Enhancing the Role of Wetlands in Flood Mitigation Through Policy
  Jonas Monast, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law
• Natural Systems: Compound Flooding
  Antonia Sebastian, Department of Geological Sciences, UNC-Chapel Hill
  Rick Luettich, UNC Institute of Marine Sciences
• Infrastructure: Inundation of Stormwater Infrastructure
  Mike Piehler, UNC Institute for the Environment
• Infrastructure: Enhancing Stormwater Controls
  Bill Hunt, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, NC State University
• Infrastructure:  Assessing Operational Flooding Risks for Substations and the Wider North Carolina Power Grid
  Jordan Kern, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University
• Infrastructure: Flood Resilience and NC Water and Wastewater Utilities
  Erin Riggs and Austin Thompson, UNC-Chapel Hill Environmental Finance Center
• Public Health Impacts and Storm Events
  Rachel Noble, UNC Institute of Marine Sciences
  Jill Stewart, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, UNC-Chapel Hill