Howard Beach after peak high tide on November 15, 2020. Credit: The Community Flood Watch Project.

Coastal communities face more frequent weather disruptions (eg floods), which, according to a recent report, will increase with sea level rise

Brooklyn, NY, May 4, 2021 — In New York City, residents and scientists are working together to understand risk, capture flooding impacts, and brainstorm solutions. The Community Flood Watch Project began as a way to gather and share standardized information about street-level flooding in New York City.

“Flood Watch is a collaboration between resident volunteers, scientists and government agencies, all with a shared goal to increase resilience to flooding in the face of rising sea levels,” said Katie Graziano, a coastal extension specialist with New York Sea Grant (NYSG).

Flood Watch is coordinated by NYSG in partnership with the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (SRI@JB), with support from the New York City' Mayor's Office of Resiliency (MOR). Work is done in partnership with community-based organizations throughout Jamaica Bay, Coney Island and the Bronx.

Earlier this year, NYSG, together with partners SRI@JB, MOR, New York City Emergency Management, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service—New York City Urban Field Station, released a research brief, “Flood Watch Social Impacts,” describing the social impacts associated with “sunny day” floods, minor but persistent floods that can present challenges for residents in low-lying coastal areas. Furthermore, the report describes actions residents have been taking to adapt to the flooding.

Details on Flood Watch — including a new interactive story map — are featured in NYSG's Spring 2021 newsletter, NY Coastlines. E-subscriptions can be made at www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines.

Other highlights from the e-newsletter:

(a) In a recently-held virtual ceremony, Sea Grant's COVID-19-inspired "#BEachSAFEly" campaign received a Folio Award from the Fair Media Council for "Best Social Media Public Awareness Campaign".

(b) A variety of stories focusing on "How Sea Grant benefits you in 2021."

(c) Details on current funding and other opportunities

(d) A number of partner, national and regional news items, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's upcoming outlook for the hurricane season as well as the return of #BioBlitz in the Great Lakes region.


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, Instagram, 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.