Storm Recovery

Hurricane Michael: A model for university-involved recovery (Part 3)

Recommendations on housing construction for Calhoun County, presented by University of West Florida students in early 2020.

Dr. Owusu-Daaku and his team of students traveled back to Calhoun County in early December 2019 to present their findings. The team took care to address recommendations from the initial assessment conducted by HUD in the early months of the recovery, while also conducting surveys to include the perspectives of the residents.

Center releases reports on Matthew recovery, rebuilding for six communities

 

Fair Bluff report
One of the released reports, a Recovery Plan for Fair Bluff, N.C.

 

Communities across eastern North Carolina have a long road to recovery after experiencing two significant hurricanes in the past three years, but recent reports from the Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence (CRC) point toward several steps that communities can take to make themselves more resilient to future storms.

The Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery & Resilience Initiative (HMDRRI), an 18-month effort led by CRC researcher Dr. Gavin Smith, has produced final reports on efforts to aid the recovery process in six eastern North Carolina communities hit by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. HMDRRI was funded by the State of North Carolina (through disaster-recovery appropriations and through the N.C. Policy Collaboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, through Office of University Programs and the Flood Apex program.

The project has produced several reports focusing on the unique needs of each of the six focus communities: Princeville, Fair Bluff, Seven Springs, Windsor, Kinston and Lumberton. Reports include Homeplace booklets, which offer proposed design standards for rebuilt or retrofitted homes in each of the six communities, and were developed by North Carolina State University’s Design Lab. Other reports include downtown flood retrofit reports, land suitability analyses and market/financial analyses. Each of these reports can be found by community on the HMDRRI Resources page.

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Responding to community needs: Hurricane Matthew recovery and resilience in eastern North Carolina

Kofi Boone, Associate Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Department of Landscape Architecture at NC State University, listens to residents and town officials in Princeville reflect on design options that highlight the town’s historical significance and importance of community. Photo by Josh Kastrinsky.

By Jessica Southwell This post originally appeared on the UNC Institute for the Environment blog. Jessica Southwell is Project Manager for the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative, and coordinates work in six communities in eastern North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Matthew. The Hurricane Matthew Recovery and Resilience Initiative is led by the Center … Read more

Initiative addresses community needs post-Matthew

Dr. Gavin Smith, who heads the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative, walks along Main Street in downtown Fair Bluff, N.C., one of six communities that is the focus of the project. Photo by Darien Williams.

Matthew work continues in 6 impacted communities  Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence (CRC) researchers, state officials and students from the University of North Carolina system have begun field work to address the unique needs of communities in eastern North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Matthew. They are working as part of the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery … Read more

Coastal Resilience Center to lead post-Matthew disaster recovery efforts

Kinston is one of six communities that is the focus on the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative. Photo by Travis Klondike/N.C. State University.

  Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence (CRC) researchers and students across several North Carolina universities will be leading three primary efforts in response to Hurricane Matthew. These include: 1) studying the impacts of Hurricane Matthew on eastern North Carolina communities; 2) advising North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management … Read more

CRC researchers working with Hurricane Matthew-affected communities

Dr. Robert Twilley

Since Hurricane Matthew hit the Southeastern U.S. in early October, Coastal Resilience Center researchers have been working with affected states and communities to better withstand the next storm. In the days leading up to and during the storm, CRC researchers tracked the storm path and predicted storm surge along Matthew’s path up Florida, Georgia, South … Read more

Coastal Resilience Center researchers, partners aid in Hurricane Matthew preparation and recovery

ADCIRC projections for storm surge locations and impact from Hurricane Matthew, as seen on these images from the CERA website, changed dramatically between Oct. 4 (left) and Oct. 7 (right).

  Researchers at the Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence (CRC) have been working with hurricane forecasters and emergency response officials to track Hurricane Matthew as it made its way through the Caribbean and up Florida to the Carolinas earlier this month. Using technology and tools being developed and improved through Center projects, they will continue … Read more