North Carolina flood zones: Growing safely or building risk?

Front Street in Beaufort, North Carolina, during a "king tide." Credit: Christine Burns / NC King Tides Project UNC-IM

Miyuki Hino and Antonia Sebastian, principal investigators with the NOAA CAP/RISA team Carolinas Collaborative on Climate, Health, and Equity (C3HE), recently published the new article titled, “Growing Safely or Building Risk?” The publication analyzes new construction across 5 million parcels in the state of North Carolina (NC) and the relationships between flood risk management effort and development outcomes, particularly with floodplain zoning. Federally designated floodplains in NC were mapped over 10 years ago and have likely grown as a result of climate change. Floodplains can also grow through housing development where surfaces that catch and hold water are replaced with impermeable surfaces such as roads or roofs. Governments often use home buyouts in floodplains and change their land use to reduce flood risks.

Read more at the link below.