NYSG Coastal Processes & Hazards Specialist Kathleen Fallon addresses a Long Island area forum re: resilience building. Credit: Ryan Strother, NYSG

Helping Long Island communities increase resilience to flooding via resources, forum opportunities and information provided by NYSG

Contact:

Kathleen Fallon, NYSG Coastal Processes & Hazards Specialist, P: 631-632-8730, E: kmf228@cornell.edu

Stony Brook, NY, March 2, 2020 - Long Island is frequently impacted by coastal storms, including tropical systems and nor’easters. The shoreline is vulnerable to flooding and erosion from these storms and from sea level rise. To prepare for the future, shoreline managers must improve resilience: the ability of a system to withstand stresses while maintaining its functions. By discussing Long Island’s vulnerability and management options, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and other experts are preparing local stakeholders facing a changing climate. 

In 2019, NYSG collaborated with the South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) to host workshops within local communities and present shoreline management options to attendees. Other participating organizations presented on weather-related topics, risk management in the coastal zone, and building resilience in the face of changing coastlines. The presenters also offered a panel-style discussion and hands-on demonstrations of multiple resiliency tools. 

NYSG co-hosted resiliency forums in the Towns of Islip, Babylon, and Southampton, and was invited to present a fourth time at a local community meeting hosted by the Jones Beach Power Squadron in Seaford. Through these events, NYSG provided resilience information to more than 130 community members across Long Island. 

Additionally, NYSG in partnership with SSER developed three new resources to help Long Island communities build their resilience to flooding impact:

• Simple Actions to Reduce Flood Damage to Property
• South Shore Estuary: Options to Reduce Flood Risk to Your Home
• Coastal Processes on Long Island: Shoreline Management on Long Island.

Through efforts like these, NYSG is developing and providing valuable information and resources to its stakeholders related to coastal resiliency, and fostering relationships with organizations interested in providing resilience information to local communities.

NYSG Coastal Resiliency Resources: www.nyseagrant.org/coastalresiliency.




The Sea Grant Focus Area for this project is Resilient New York Communities and Economies.


Project Partners:  

• South Shore Estuary Reserve 
• New York State Department of State 
• The Nature Conservancy 
• National Weather Service 
• Hofstra University


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.