By Rose Houck
Announcing New NC Collaboratory Investments in Flood Resiliency Research
In 2016, Hurricane Matthew destroyed over 100,000 properties in North Carolina. Two years later, Hurricane Florence caused $22 billion in damage across the State. In response to these storms and major flood events, the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) entrusted the Collaboratory with developing a study to strengthen resilience against future flooding events in the State. This study was published in 2021, featuring findings from researchers across the State and an implementation plan with reported recommendations.
The impacts of flooding continue to be a major issue in North Carolina. Just over a month ago, Tropical Storm Debby caused dangerous flooding throughout the State, highlighting these ongoing challenges. To address this, the Collaboratory expanded its commitment to North Carolina flood resilience research by funding six additional research projects. These projects are led by researchers from across the University of North Carolina System and build on previous work to address North Carolina flood resiliency more comprehensively. The funded research projects address numerous critical flooding issues in North Carolina, including mitigation strategies, resilience planning, flood mapping, natural infrastructure solutions, and community impact assessments. These essential projects are made possible with NCGA appropriations.
One of these research projects is led by Antonia Sebastian, PhD, Director of the Flood Hazard Laboratory at UNC-Chapel Hill. Sebastian has spent her career researching flood resilience solutions by applying interdisciplinary methods to understand how flood risks are evolving in response to changing human and environmental conditions. Sebastian remains motivated in her field, driven by the real opportunity to effect change. She emphasized that “increased public awareness on flooding issues has created momentum in flood research.”
With the Collaboratory’s support, Sebastian is excited to collaborate with UNC-Chapel Hill professor Greg Characklis, PhD, on a project to reduce mortgage defaults and home abandonment after flooding events in the State. Sebastian and Characklis will develop a methodology combining flood inundation models with homeowners’ financial status assessments to understand quantifiable risks and potential interventions. In discussing the import of this research on expanding available data on flood event impacts, Sebastian stressed that “good data is where it starts.”
Adam Gold, with North Carolina’s Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), specializes in flood mitigation within the State. He brings extensive expertise in understanding the impacts of flooding on coastal communities. In his role, he focuses on developing flood resilience planning for North Carolina. Gold emphasized that an important part of his work is “leveraging the academic knowledge we have in this State for public benefit.”
The Collaboratory does a great job at translating academic knowledge into practical solutions.”
– Adam Gold, EDF.
Gold fosters direct collaboration between the EDF and university scientists, whose research highlights the benefits of, and potential flood risk reduction provided by, approaches such as natural infrastructure and wetlands protection. Gold recognizes that academic research is often innovation in practice. He shared, “[A] linkage between what’s new and cutting edge applied in practice to the State is really key.” Through collaboration between policymakers and scientists, North Carolina is well-positioned to grow and adapt to new challenges.
Both Sebastian and Gold credit the Collaboratory for its important role in North Carolina’s flood resilience efforts. Sebastian argued that when it comes to flood resilience, “We need to better understand the problem before we can develop optimal solutions.” She appreciates the State’s investment in crucial flood research and the Collaboratory’s continued leadership in this field.
Gold agreed: “The Collaboratory does a great job at translating academic knowledge into practical solutions.” Thus, providing policymakers with critical data on flood research. He believes this holds huge value to the State, in terms of considering what’s new, what’s next, and what might work better than current practices.
The Collaboratory is enthusiastic about continuing its investment in North Carolina’s flood resilience. Through Sebastian’s project and other newly funded research, solutions can be identified and information shared with our State’s decision-makers.
Rose Houck is a senior studying biology and applied data science. Rose has been an intern with the NC Collaboratory since the summer of 2023.