About the Coastal Storms Program
How We Began
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) started
the Coastal Storms Program (CSP) in 2001 in an effort to reduce the
adverse impacts of storms on life, property, the economy, and environmental
health in coastal areas. To meet this need, NOAA draws upon expertise
from across the organization.
The CSP determined early on that the best way to accomplish its goals
would be to localize the effort by implementing regional pilot projects.
Through this approach, the CSP can focus its energies and tailor its
products to each pilot region’s specific coastal issues and hazards.
The pilot regions are chosen for their representative geographies, while
products are chosen, with local user input, to address an area’s
needs. Each region has a local outreach and extension lead, typically
provided through Sea Grant, to ensure that the improved information
and tools gained from the Coastal Storms Program are available to CSP
partners and users.
Our Goals
Specifically, CSP’s products and services seek to:
- Focus NOAA’s diverse capabilities to mitigate coastal storm
impacts
- Address gaps in knowledge and improve coastal decision making related
to storm preparation, response, and mitigation
- Train local users on products and build local capacity
- Increase coastal communities’ ability to anticipate and reduce
the ecological impacts of coastal storms
- Increase capability of marine- and coastal-dependent industries
and communities to reduce the disruption of commerce due to coastal
storms
Kicking Off a New Pilot Effort
Kickoff meetings are held in each pilot area to assess the needs of
state and local officials, planners, resource managers, and other stakeholders,
and to determine what storm-related issues are of the greatest importance
to the community. Once the needs have been assessed, NOAA works to determine
its capabilities to address those issues, where partnerships are needed,
and potential products. The CSP will produce new and improved tools,
data, information, forecast models, and training for coastal communities.
Wrapping Up a Pilot Effort
At the conclusion of each pilot project, CSP products are generally
available to all. Although products are developed for a specific region,
they will often be useful to a broad range of coastal communities. Generally,
training is held as needed as each project progresses. However, each
pilot project will have a wrap-up meeting to let local users know what
has been accomplished, show where they can access products, and provide
any additional training needed for the pilot area.