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Could leaving 'room for the river' help protect communities from floods?

Samantha Harrington

July 15, 2020 |

Yale Climate Connections |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Davenport, Iowa

While many communities in the Midwest use dams and levees to control the Mississippi River, some are trying new approaches to flood control as climate change threatens to increase rainfall and the severity of storms in the region. Some cities are turning to the Dutch solution of leaving “room for the river” to allow the body of water to flow naturally and design public spaces to handle inundation. While this technique doesn’t always work during major flooding events, traditional flood control strategies can be more harmful and actually worsen flooding.

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The disaster recovery groups helping rural North Carolina weather COVID-19

Antionette Kerr

May 27, 2020 |

Southerly |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, North Carolina

Mobilized to help North Carolina’s second-poorest county recover from two major hurricanes over the past four years, the Robeson County Disaster Recovery Coalition pivoted to provide COVID-19 relief and brace for the possibility of a hurricane during the pandemic. The coalition and other small nonprofits have filled gaps left by state-run relief efforts that either wasted federal aid or failed to take advantage of available aid. During the pandemic, the groups have distributed personal protective equipment and educated a region hard-hit by both kinds of natural disaster.

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How some Mississippi teens are saving their town from climate change

Rebecca Klein

May 23, 2020 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Duck Hill, Mississippi

Through the Achieving Sustainability Through Education and Economic Development Solutions (ASEEDS) Creek Rangers program, teens and community leaders are raising awareness of the effects of climate change in their small Mississippi town. They’ve fixed their community’s drainage system to help mitigate floods that have impacted the area for years. While some people were skeptical of their efforts, they’ve been able to work with pastors and other people to show how climate change is already impacting them.

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A Vision for a Just recovery - La Marana's work Post Hurricane Maria

Ambika Samarthya-Howard

January 20, 2020 |

New Haven Independent |

Video |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Puerto Rico

La Maraña, a nonprofit in Puerto Rico, created a model for how communities could recover from disasters like the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017. By including community voices in the design and planning process of recovery projects — which can focus on water, food, energy, roads, communication, or security — the organization hopes the projects are more likely to succeed and promote longterm community civic engagement.

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Galvanized by disaster

Beth Edwards

November 11, 2019 |

Indiana Environmental Reporter |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Goshen, Indiana

After devastating floods hit the town of Goshen, the small town in Indiana used the experience as an opportunity to work towards disaster preparedness. Focusing not just on what would work best against environmental change and the subsequent severe weather created by it but also what would move the city forward, the mayor has been able to implement a series of changes including partnerships to increase awareness as well as community youth involvement.

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Fill, Build and Flood: Dangerous Development in Flood-Prone Areas

Laurie Mazur

October 08, 2019 |

U.S. News & World Report |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

To combat excessive flooding in low-plain areas, cities like Charlotte are passing critical legislation that regulates fill-and-build development, a type of construction that leads to more intense flooding in vulnerable neighborhoods. Charlotte bases flood control plans off future conditions rather than current or past flooding areas, and the city charges a fee for homeowners that, in turn, provides dedicated funding for stormwater management

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CT's small solutions to climate change: when flood control spurs economic development

Jan Ellen Spiegel

September 18, 2019 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Meriden, Connecticut

Climate change adaptation efforts and economic development can go hand in hand, according to one Connecticut town. Meriden transformed a former mall into a large park, a natural solution that helps mitigate the town's routine flooding and has encouraged housing and retail development in the surrounding area.

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Ideas from Oklahoma can help NC plan for future of increased flooding

Richard Adkins

September 17, 2019 |

WRAL-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Eastern North Carolina -- an area increasingly affected by flooding from hurricanes -- looks to Tulsa for long-term, financially sustainable solutions to routine flooding. Tulsa's comprehensive approach includes regulating building in floodplains as well as building vast drainage systems in all high-risk flood areas. The city implemented a storm water mitigation fee to residents' water bills in order to make flood insurance among the cheapest in the country.

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CT's small solutions to climate change: creating salt marsh in Stonington

Jan Ellen Spiegel

September 17, 2019 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Stonington, Connecticut

To address increased tidal flooding on its shoreline, Stonington, Connecticut, is sticking to a simple principle: "Where possible, work with nature not against it.” Volunteers plant native plants, helping to restore and expand the former salt marsh, which naturally absorbs water.

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Climate Resilience on Detroit's East Side

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

September 13, 2019 |

Belt Magazine |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Working toward environmental justice takes organizing on the community level. In Detroit, the Women of Empowerment promote resilience against the adverse effects of climate change on the city’s east side by spearheading projects that range from legal cases to the installation of solar panels. The group also partners with local nonprofits like the Eastside Community Network and Heatwaves Housing and Health (HHH), to collect data that can inform climate-resilient city planning.

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