Weather-related hazards such as flooding, hurricanes and storm surge are a constant challenge on the Georgia Coast.
In coastal Georgia, many different types of natural hazards can occur. Hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding, excessive and prolonged heat waves and drought can have potentially devastating impacts on life and property, as well as local economies and the environment. Many of these hazards are worsening due to the effects of sea-level rise and climate change.
The goal of the coastal resilience program is to develop and implement equitable, community-driven solutions to mitigate and adapt to coastal hazards.
Marine Extension Service and Georgia Sea Grant’s coastal resilience program collaborates with national, regional, state and local partners to provide coastal communities with knowledge, data and tools needed to prepare for and recover from coastal hazards. Through research, extension and education initiatives, the coastal resilience program offers:
Together, these efforts strengthen the economic, ecological and social resilience of Georgia, helping to support a vibrant, healthy and stable Georgia coast.
Building Military Community Resilience
The Coastal Resilience Department of Defense (DoD) Liaison is designed to assist military communities in becoming more resilient to coastal hazards by sharing expertise and making connections across Sea Grant, Department of Defense and community leadership. The liaison works with Sea Grant coastal resilience specialists and others across the network to leverage expertise in resilience planning, water resources management, community engagement, communication, nature-based infrastructure, conservation, floodplain management and education to advance the sustainability of coastal defense communities and ecosystems.
St. Marys Flood Resiliency Project
Since 2013, the City of St. Marys has collaborated with Georgia Sea Grant, the University of Georgia, Stetson University and North Carolina Sea Grant to engage in flood resiliency planning. The historic, low-lying community has already experienced approximately nine inches of sea-level rise since 1897, and this trend is expected to accelerate in the future. This project has paired local knowledge with academic expertise to analyze risks to the City’s infrastructure and provide initial recommendations to manage flooding risks over the next 50 years. A model for other communities, this effort has grown to include other cities and counties throughout the U.S. southeast Atlantic region.
Communicating Hazard Information in the Modern Environment (CHIME)
Funded by the National Science Foundation, this project studied the effectiveness of storm surge geovisualizations to advance hazardous weather risk communication. Following Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant partnered with the National Center for Atmospheric Research to conduct 10 focus groups in Beaufort, Brunswick and Savannah to assess the effectiveness of storm surge forecast visualizations and identify cartography best practices.
Outputs:
Green Industry Trainings
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced property owners to spend more time at home, demand for services from Georgia’s Green Industry surged. Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant provided online training to landscaping and tree care companies, nurseries, and other Green Industry businesses to help safely increase their capacity, while building resilience to current and future change. The webinars were offered in partnership with UGA Extension, UGA Center for Urban Agriculture, UGA Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Georgia Forestry Commission, Victory Gardens, Savannah Tree Foundation, City of Savannah, Georgia Green Industry Association, Georgia Urban Ag Council and Georgia Recreation and Parks Association.
