Governor Cooper proclaimed October 4-10 Resiliency Week to highlight how the state is working to rebuild North Carolina in the face of increasingly severe hurricanes and floods.
“North Carolina’s future is threatened by climate change and we must address the challenge of resiliency across North Carolina,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “As we approach the anniversary of another notable named storm, Hurricane Matthew, it is important to recognize that we must make deliberate, thoughtful choices to make our state smarter and stronger.”
The N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), a division of the Department of Public Safety, was established after Hurricane Florence to streamline and expedite hurricane recovery and help North Carolina better withstand future storms.
North Carolina’s 2020 Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan delivered a framework for state action and underscores Governor Roy Cooper’s commitment to building climate change resiliency statewide while promoting economic growth and stability.
NCORR and the North Carolina Emergency Management Division published a guide in April for communities to include resiliency planning in their building and rebuilding. The Natural Hazards Resilience: A Quick Start Guide for North Carolina Communities provides a starting point for local governments that may not know where to begin with such preparation.
The most recent statewide resiliency initiative is the N.C. Resilient Communities Program, which launched last week, and is a priority of the state’s Resilience Plan. A $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce will fund the first statewide effort to help local governments develop community-specific disaster resiliency planning. The funding award was announced June 18, 2020, from the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and will be matched with $287,932 in state funds. NCORR, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM) in the Department of Environmental Quality and N.C. Rural Center, are working together to form a statewide framework on disaster resilience planning as well as economic development trainings and guidance.
In addition to the resiliency team’s work, NCORR’s Strategic Buyout Program and Homeowner Recovery Program offer homeowners safer living options – moving residents to locations with less flooding risk or renovating and elevating homes to decrease risk of future storm damage.
Read the proclamation.
To learn more about NCORR or the state’s resiliency plan, go to https://www.rebuild.nc.gov/resiliency.
###