Coastal Services Center

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Gulf of Mexico

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The Gulf of Mexico is extremely vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes, especially when combined with the significant habitat and wetland loss that has occurred throughout the Gulf. The impacts and recovery from hurricanes Katrina and Rita continue and will be felt for many years to come. In fact, seven months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, New Orleans’ population had dwindled to 156,140 residents from 458,393 before the storm (www.brookings.edu/metro/katrina.htm).

Geographic Scope of the Project

The fourth project area was recently kicked off in 2007 and will cover the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Southeast Louisiana.

Project Goals and Objectives

NOAA’s Coastal Storms Program, in conjunction with the NOAA Coastal Services Center’s Gulf Coast Services Center, Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant programs, and stakeholder input will inform local leaders on issues surrounding land-use redevelopment and how different decisions affect a community’s hazard resilience. This includes knowledge of what tools are available to assess and identify hazard and development impacts, how to use the tools, the work being conducted by various organizations, and expert points of contact.

Key Partners

Alabama-Mississippi Sea Grant, Louisiana Sea Grant, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Northern Gulf Institute, and other federal agencies.

Products

The Gulf of Mexico (GoMEX) project area effort is just beginning and will work to address the impacts of development choices in vulnerable coastal areas. Significant effort is already underway by many federal, state, and local organizations to better map and identify the hazards throughout the Gulf. The Coastal Storm Program will focus on getting these tools to local and state decision makers and training them on how to best utilize these resources.