Following are some sources for additional information on hazard risks your community may face. For details on how to use this information to help protect your community, see where to use additional information on coastal hazard risks.
Understanding Your Community’s Exposure
The first step towards making your community more resilient to disasters is understanding and prioritizing its risks: the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium has put together a very useful tool called the Coastal Resilience Index to help you do just that.
Coastal Inundation
With continuing sea level rise, more and more areas are at risk of flooding or being damaged by storm surge. Unfortunately, figuring out what areas are going to flood in the future is even trickier than determining which are most at risk now. NOAA has created a Coastal Inundation Toolkit with information coastal inundation is and how to address it. Also see their Mapping Coastal Inundation Primer (PDF, 1.4 MB).
Climate Change
- The U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Online Resource Library provides access to data and information on climate change research, adaptation/mitigation strategies and technologies, and global change-related educational resources.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is generally accepted as an authority on sea level rise trends. See their Sea Level Rise Reports and Coastal Zones and Sea Level Rise pages.
- The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has extensive information on sea level rise available on their frequently updated web site.
- Coastal communities can find general suggestions for means of adapting to rising sea levels and climate change in Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional and State Governments.
- The Florida Institute of Technology has assembled a library of sea level and coastal climate adaptation.
Sea Level Rise
- A consortium of groups including The Nature Conservancy and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance have created a sea level rise site with detailed information spots along the Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Probability
For the latest (April, 2009) statistics on the likelihood of your county being struck by a hurricane, see The United States Landfalling Hurricaneor Web Project.
Shoreline Change History
Detailed mapping, including historic mapping and aerial photography is available through the Louisiana Office of Coastal Management’s SONR.
Communities seeking more information on shoreline change and the risks that come with it can download a PDF of the Heinz Center’s Evaluation of Erosion Hazards.