- Coastal Hazards
- Natural and Cultural Resources
- Mitigation
- Partnerships
- National Flood Insurance Program
Coastal Hazards |
A broad range of natural hazards affect coastal communities on the Gulf of Mexico, ranging from coastal storms and shoreline erosion to harmful algal blooms and sea level rise. These hazards are often in tandem and cascading. For instance, coastal storms, including tropical storms and hurricanes, cause damage both through flooding and damaging winds.
Flooding |
Flooding is the costliest and most common natural hazard to occur in the United States. Flood hazards are expected to become more severe in the Gulf of Mexico as severe coastal storms become more frequent and sea levels rise. There are two main causes of catastrophic flooding in coastal communities: riverine flooding and storm surge.
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Wind |
Wind hazards, including sustained and high winds as well as tornadoes, can be brought about by coastal storms such as tropical storms and hurricanes, as well as by severe inland storms. Wind loads and windborne debris, especially falling trees and tree limbs, are both capable of damaging structures.
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Erosion |
Areas of erosion and deposition along the coast are a natural part of coastal dynamics, including beaches, cliffs, and rivers. Sediment naturally flows through these dynamic systems, changing their shape over time. These natural pressures of change work at odds with human development and property lines that are designed to remain static. Erosion undermines buildings, roads, and utilities, eventually rendering them unusable, and brings the shoreline closer to other structures, increasing their exposure to flood hazards. Erosion also destroys wetlands and undermines dune systems that are critical for flood hazard protection and ecosystem health
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Harmful Algal Blooms |
Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae—microscopic waterborne plants—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds.
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Sea Level Rise (SLR) |
The water level reached by high tides on a daily basis in coastal communities is determined by the combined influence of several global and local factors. When planning for future sea level rise, it is important to remember that these changes will have serious negative impacts on the community decades before a given parcel or neighborhood is permanently underwater.
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Natural and Cultural Resources |
Natural resources are at risk to coastal hazards. Natural resources are considered “materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.” In the case of the Gulf, seafood, oil, and gas are among the primary natural resources, but culture, tradition and history has also shaped the region. Cultural resources -- those associated with the history and traditions of a place, both past and present -- are often overlooked but essential attributes of any community. More difficult to define, these may be not only landmarks such as historic buildings but also less tangible things like music, culinary styles, and oral histories. This section briefly summarizes each of the biggest industries in the Gulf of Mexico and the economic benefits they provide to the region, which amount to approximately $234 billion each year.9
Commercial fishing |
Commercial fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is a multi-billion dollar industry that harvests fin fish, shrimp, oysters and crab. Gulf Coast residents are employed in the commercial fishing industry in many capacities: operating fishing vessels, maintaining gear, sorting and packing catch, and so on. It is clear that the livelihoods of thousands of people rely on the continued availability of seafood for commercial use. Hurricanes and other extreme weather events can be exceedingly detrimental to marine life. Flooding and intense wind can push pollutants and debris from the land out into coastal waters. Furthermore, storms can damage oil infrastructure which results in leaks and spills that can devastate marine populations in both the short and long term. Years following oil spills, research shows that marine life have issues ranging from contaminated eggs, impaired reproduction and altered blood chemistry. Therefore, this immense industry relies heavily on adequate preparation for and recovery from disasters.
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Shipping |
The Gulf of Mexico, including the prominent Mississippi River Delta, is a key trading region for imported and exported goods in the United States. According to the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Second Look report, as of 2016, over half of the top 25 US ports by total tonnage were located in the Gulf, including the top two -- South Louisiana, La. and Houston, Texas. They service 213 million tons and 211 million tons a year, respectively. In fact, the South Louisiana port is the largest tonnage port in the entire Western hemisphere! In addition to the port cities themselves, the Gulf also is home to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, a 1,300 mile man-made canal along the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida. The Texas stretch of this canal alone handles up to 90 million tons of freight annually.13 The primary commodities that pass through the Gulf of Mexico are crude petroleum, petroleum products, chemicals and food: There is reason to believe that shipping patterns may be impacted by climate change. Increased precipitation could cause the build up of silt and debris in some areas, narrowing channels and restricting access. Port infrastructure can be subject to damage from high winds associated with tropical storms and hurricanes. In the 2014 National Climate Assessment, the Gulf Coast was identified as particularly vulnerable to these effects.
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Oil and gas |
Chief among industries in the Gulf Coast is the production of oil and natural gas. There are approximately 3700 active oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, producing about half of the entire oil, gas, and refined oil in the US every year. Both platforms and pipelines are pervasive throughout the region. Extreme weather can be devastating for oil and gas infrastructure. Hurricane Harvey shut down 22 percent of the nation’s refining capacity and led to the leakage of millions of pounds of air pollutants into Texas communities.15 Offshore production, which is administered by the federal government, is a growing component of domestic oil production and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed more than 100 oil platforms and damaged 558 pipelines. This is not only a serious economic disruption, but spills also threaten the health of the entire marine community. Currently, the US offshore, particularly the Gulf of Mexico, produces 30% of US oil and 10% of US natural gas.16
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Tourism |
The Gulf of Mexico is a region known for its great diversity of habitat types, both marine and terrestrial. With 47,000 miles of coastline stretching from the Florida Keys to the tip of Texas, the Gulf Coast provides the opportunity for ample recreational activities with its warm climate, beaches, and abundant wildlife.
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Ecosystem Services |
In addition to fisheries and tourism, the natural features of the Gulf of Mexico provide many other tangible benefits. Chief among these are the presence of healthy wetlands and oyster reefs for water quality, soil erosion control, and storm protection. As these habitats are destroyed and developed, their ability to provide a wide protective barrier for the human structures inland is severely compromised. Furthermore, these habitats are essential to the commercial fishing industry, as 97% of commercial fish and shellfish are species that depend on them for at least some portions of their life cycle. Louisiana has 40% of the wetlands in the US. However, if current rates hold, one third of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands will be lost by the year 2050. Wetlands across the Gulf are quickly being converted to open water, bare land, agriculture, and urban development. 272 square miles of wetlands were converted in the Gulf of Mexico coastal watershed area from 1996 to 2006. Preservation of these features is not only essential to the health of flora and fauna, but to the wellbeing of human communities.
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Mitigation |
To protect natural and cultural resources, communities must take action to mitigate against coastal hazards. According to FEMA, “hazard mitigation is any action taken to reduce or eliminate long term risk to people and property from natural disasters.”25 This definition acknowledges that flood events will occur, but that their consequences can be made less severe, on short and long term scales, with adequate preparation before, during and after the event. This section briefly describes some basic techniques and strategies at the disposal of local governments.
Structural Activities |
Structural flood reduction measures include the addition of new levees, dams, and other built protections, as well as the retrofitting, or facility hardening, of already existing structures. Retrofitting is the addition of resilient design elements to improve a facility’s ability to withstand all-hazard events. Existing structures should be evaluated for their adaptive capacity, or how easily they could be modified to improve resilience.
It is important to remember that protecting individual buildings is essential, but must be done in conjunction with other, broader strategies. If, for example, a home is floodproofed, those residents may still be in peril if the roads surrounding the home are impassible and they are isolated from emergency supplies and staff. These strategies may include:
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Non-structural Activities |
Non-structural flood reduction measures focus on managing human behavior and enforcing policies that increase resilience and adaptability to disasters. These options include acquisition of flood prone structures, certain building guidelines such as wet and dry floodproofing, and the development of thorough emergency evacuation plans far in advance of an event.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers’ No Adverse Impact (NAI) Toolkit may be a useful resource to learn about more potential strategies. |
Partnerships |
As communities work to build community resilience and determine proper mitigation actions, partnerships are critical to an effort's success. Different partners can bring different information, expertise, insights, funding, data, tools and resources to resilience efforts. Partners can be:
Local |
Local governments can partner at the local level in a variety of ways, within the local government at the agency level and outside of the local government with other local governments or with local organizations, non-profits or faith-based organizations, to name a few.
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State and regional |
As in local government, there are many state departments in which resilience is relevant. Beyond the departments primarily focused on resilience listed below, communities might also look to engage in conversation with their state departments of health, natural resources, transportation, historic preservation or water infrastructure, as the perspectives of these department may be extremely valuable. Key state and regional partners include:
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Federal |
Key federal partners include:
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Non-profit |
Potential non-profit partners include:
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Private |
Potential private sector partners include:
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National Flood Insurance Program |
NFIP |
Many coastal counties have substantial populations (and their associated properties) and infrastructure in their flood zone. Unfortunately, flood damages to personal property are not covered under standard homeowner’s insurance which forces county constituents to seek out private insurance or receive coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).25 The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is administered by the U.S Department of Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), provides insurance coverage to property owners for damages and losses due to catastrophic flooding. Through NFIP counties can provide affordable flood insurance to property owners and simultaneously reduce flood risk within the jurisdiction through the adoption of flood management ordinances such as flood-resistant building codes. While participation in NFIP is voluntary, there are currently 22,000 communities that participate in NFIP.26 |
NFIP Community Rating System (CRS) |
The cost of flood insurance premiums is an often-cited deterrent for county participation and full compliance with NFIP. Through participation in the voluntary NFIP Community Rating System (CRS) however, NFIP compliant counties can receive discounted flood insurance rate premiums if they enact floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP standards. Such activities must meet the three goals of the CRS which include: (1) reducing flood damage to insurable property; (2) strengthening the insurance aspects of the NFIP; and (3) encouraging a comprehensive approach to floodplain management. |
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ENDNOTES |
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