Five Major Mitigation Projects for National Preparedness Month

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure according to Benjamin Franklin. This particular colonial conviction shines in September with the advent of National Preparedness Month.

Staying ahead of hazards is the ultimate goal of many projects in development at the Coastal Resilience Center. Here are five of them that highlight how we cover down on disasters.

1. Expanding the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard (PIRS) for Multi-Hazards

PIRS makes preparedness a breeze for planners by helping them find and fix conflicts across all of their development strategies. Its methodology merges risk mitigation with spatial evaluation.

We keep beefing up PIRS with new assessment options that take an expanding list of hazards into account. Wildfires and rising urban temperatures are now within our purview here.

2. Listening to Academic and Community Experts on Preparedness to Natural Hazards for Underrepresented Neighborhoods

Tailoring plans to people is important because disasters affect us differently. Our research suggests that communal needs during coastal catastrophes are often stratified.

We continue to dial in the details on who needs what when conditions are worst. Advising federal agencies on preparations for proper provisioning is also part of our aim here.

3. Coastal Hazards Analysis, Modeling, and Prediction System for Emergency Planning, Management, and Response

Localizing storm impact modeling data is what helps state agencies make better decisions during bad weather. Our systems do exactly that so coastal cities can plan with precision.

RI-CHAMP is one of those platforms. Institutions throughout New England are adopting it to stay prepared for floods while unlocking the ability to save more lives when tides rise.

4. Preparing Tomorrow’s Minority Task Force in Coastal Resilience Through Interdisciplinary Education and Research

We are the leading national experts in the field of coastal resilience. Training the next generation of shoreline scientists to be great is our way of preparing for an uncertain future.

Johnson C. Smith University and other colleges across the country have partnered with us to that end. Our education programs preserve the dream of resilience for all of us.

5. ADCIRC Prediction System (APS) Enhancements and Coordination

This is the project that started it all. Entire sectors of industry and government have spent decades relying on ADCIRC for the best possible weather tracking data available.

Expanding the reach of ADCIRC is a new priority of ours along with making upgrades to surge guidance systems. These improvements mean more ways for users to plan and prepare.