Community Resilience on Tybee Island
In 2016, Tybee Island became the first community in Georgia to adopt a sea level rise adaptation plan. Over the past five years, the island has emerged as a national leader in resilience planning, implementing diverse measures to protect the community from the detrimental effects of flooding and rising seas. This has included beach renourishment, dune restoration, home elevation and raised beach access pathways.
Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant has provided funding to projects designed to improve resilience on the island and partnered on other grant-funded initiatives designed to mitigate impacts of SLR, flooding and hurricanes.
Tybee Island Coastal Marsh and Community Resilience Adaptation Project
Leveraging its partnership with Tybee Island that produced Georgia’s first municipal sea level rise adaptation plan, the City of Tybee Island and Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant are leading an interdisciplinary team in assessing flood risks and potential adaptation solutions along the island’s low-lying marsh shoreline. Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the community-driven project is exploring grey, green and hybrid infrastructure options, as well as policy solutions, to protect homes and infrastructure while preserving habitat.
- Tybee Island Coastal Marsh and Community Resilience Adaptation Project: Executive Status Report, September 2021
This report summarizes project activities and milestones to date. - Tybee Island GeoSurvey
The Tybee Island GeoSurvey was launched to help identify locations on the island that have issues with flooding, erosion, marsh die off and marine debris. Click here to enter locations. - Coastal Empire Natural Hazard Resiliency Survey
Residents of Chatham, Bryan and Liberty Counties are invited to participate in a survey to help assess the flood risk perceptions and adaptation preferences in terms of cost, time, habitat health and flood protection tradeoffs. Results will inform outreach efforts and regional planning priorities. Take the Coastal Empire Natural Hazard Resiliency Survey
Tybee Island Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan
In 2016, Tybee Island became the first community in Georgia and one of the first in the entire Southeast United States to adopt a municipal sea level rise plan. Funded by the National Sea Grant Program, the collaborative project led by Stetson University and Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant used a participatory approach, assessing current and future flooding risks and exploring potential adaptation actions to make the island more resilient over time. The plan also helped improve the City’s rating under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System (CRS). The project has received widespread national acclaim, earning the 2017 University Economic Development Association Award of Excellence in the Place Category and Sea Grant’s highest national outreach award.
Tybee Island Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan