Community Resilience

This short film examines Louisiana Sea Grant's recovery efforts as it redefined its role in a significantly altered coastal zone landscape.

The NOAA Coastal Services Center helps communities take the steps needed to increase resilience to coastal hazards and climate change by providing an array of tools and services.

The Coastal Resilience Index is a tool communities can use to examine how prepared they are for storms and storm recovery. To complete the index, community leaders get together and use the tool to guide discussions about their communities' resilience to coastal hazards.

Provides the tools and information communities need to understand and address coastal flooding.

Allows users to create maps to visualize community assets (people, places, and natural resources) at risk to flood hazards.

An audio history of Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island.

A Second Glance is an accessible reference to support regional decision-making and communications about the importance of healthy Gulf coastal ecosystems to a robust national economy, a safe population, and a high quality of life. It helps to better define the regional context in which state, local, and federal partners work together to better manage the Gulf's coastal natural resources.

NOAA's Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC) is a centralized coastal crisis support facility and communications hub. The new facility supports decision makers in their efforts to prepare for, assess, and respond to coastal ecological and economic distress.

This website is organized into 10 chapters describing different elements essential for communities interested in implementing coastal and waterfront smart growth.

This website provides a unique interface into over a decade of habitat restoration data in coastal Louisiana.

Helping coastal decision makers connect and collaborate.

A Louisiana-specific guidebook that brings together tools, techniques and policies currently available, or that could be developed, by local governments to mitigate natural hazards.

Storm surge and large waves produced by hurricanes pose the greatest threat to life and property along the coast.

The National CZM Program takes a comprehensive approach to coastal resource management — balancing the often competing and occasionally conflicting demands of coastal resource use, economic development, and conservation.

Being able to visualize potential impacts from sea level rise is a powerful teaching and planning tool, and the Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer brings this capability to coastal communities.

Storm Smart Coasts is a resource for coastal decision makers looking for the latest and best information on how to protect their communities from weather and climate hazards.

These training opportunities help users address coastal issues and make the most of the data and tools found on Digital Coast. Technical skills, designing effective projects, coastal issues, and working with people are the topics of these trainings. Trainings are offered in a variety of formats, from traditional classroom-based trainings to self-guided, Web-based instruction.

Personal Resilience

This handbook was created to help you prepare for a natural hazard so that risks to family and property may be reduced. While it is never possible to eliminate all damage from a natural hazard, you as a homeowner can take action and implement many small and cost-effective steps that could significantly lower your risk. Mother Nature can be intense. Your family and home deserve protection that only you can provide.

The National Hurricane Center prepares and issues analyses and forecasts in the form of text advisories and graphical products.

Published each year for the Atlantic hurricane season, the NOAA Extreme Weather Information Sheets provide critical information for contacting government officials and monitoring information resources.

Real-time coastal observations and NOAA forecasts.

Peer listening is a type of support that occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, and emotional, social or practical help to each other. Properly trained peer listeners can provide a number of services to the community, such as serving as an available ear to assist in problem solving or providing referrals to professionals.

This video chronicles the professional response and personal stories of three Marine Extension agents living and working in the areas affected by the storms.

Provides a synopsis of near real-time oceanographic and meteorological observations at locations affected by a tropical cyclone, especially hurricanes.

A look at what people can do on land to protect ocean water quality and prevent marine debris.

Education and Outreach

The Climate Community of Practice in the Gulf of Mexico provides information and tools to allow local decision makers and extension, outreach and educators to work together to incorporate all types of coastal hazards into Gulf Coast communities comprehensive plans and to share climate-related information, research, tools and experiences.

This three-hour course introduces students to the fundamental green infrastructure concepts that play a critical role in making coastal communities more resilient. Through lectures, group discussions, and exercises, participants will identify natural assets in their communities that improve coastal resilience and will identify key stakeholders and planning processes that can support green infrastructure network design and protection.

The NOAA Gulf of Mexico Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program contributes to NOAA������s mission by supporting education efforts to create an environmentally literate citizenry. Through grants and regional policy work, Gulf B-WET projects immerse participants in Meaningful Watershed Education Experiences (MWEEs): sustained, hands-on, environmental activities that are aligned with academic learning standards and include learning about watersheds in an outdoor setting. Through these experiences participants develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to act in ways that protect watersheds and related ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems.

An explanation of the large watershed that drains into the Gulf of Mexico and how it can affect Gulf health.

History teaches that a lack of hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane disasters. By knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster.

Information on sanctuary impacts from and response to the Deepwater Horizon spill along with links to educational resources about oil spills.

An educational lesson/activity the looks at how plastics affect the ocean environment and the impact that students and their families have on the amount of plastic bags used each day, week, and year.

NOAA's Weather-Ready Nation is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather and water events.