Va. Beach wins grant to plan for rising sea levels

 The City of Virginia Beach has won a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to aid in protecting homes, businesses and military bases from rising sea levels.

The $844,000 grant comes as part of NOAA's Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program and will help Virginia Beach continue citywide analysis of sea level rise and how to adapt to it. Studies began in 2014 and will be completed in 2018. Virginia Beach will share the results with neighboring cities and work with local businesses and homeowners to implement the recommendations.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant,” said Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms. “It will support our ongoing efforts to combat rising sea levels throughout Coastal Virginia. This project represents another smart and effective step toward ensuring Virginia Beach’s resilience for years to come.”

Hampton Roads is one of the communities most vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise in the country, second only to New Orleans.

“Families in Hampton Roads are already experiencing the consequences of climate change through flooding roads and sidewalks that make travel difficult and at times dangerous,” said Virginia senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said. “Today’s federal funding will help protect the region from the damaging impact that sea level rise threatens to have on long-term economic vitality and defense readiness. We applaud NOAA for its approach to working with regional and local stakeholders who have the best understanding of their communities’ needs to find innovative solutions to this complicated problem.”

This is the inaugural year of NOAA’s Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program. The agency received over 130 applications for the grants, of which 12 were recommended for funding.

The program supports regional approaches that build resilience of coastal regions, communities and economic sectors from extreme weather events, climate hazards and changing ocean conditions.