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Coastal Hazards

Identifying Impacts and Solutions

Coastal Hazards Are Causing Greater Damages

Nearly half of the U.S. population lives in coastal areas that are susceptible to coastal hazards. The increase of population and development in coastal areas puts people and property in harm's way.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1997; National Planning Association, 1995. Note: Does not include Alaska.

More information: Population: Distribution, Density and Growth,  Population and Development in Coastal Areas (NOAA Special Projects Office).

Knowing Where Your Community Is Vulnerable Is Powerful Information

Coastal hazards that impact highly developed areas result in costly damages to property, society, the economy, and the environment. Risk and vulnerability assessments help locate high-risk areas and address the vulnerabilities within them.

More info: Reducing the Impacts of Coastal Hazards,  Vulnerability Assessment Techniques and Applications,  Community Vulnerability Assessment Tool (CVAT), New Hanover County, North Carolina

Plan for Today and Tomorrow

Coastal resource managers make decisions today that impact how their communities will fare during a disastrous event in the future. Sustainable development requires a dynamic balance of the human, social, economic and political systems within the natural ecosystem. This balance must allow opportunities for growth; maintain quality of life, water, and air; and afford protection of the natural and built environments. Although some coastal hazards cannot be prevented, hazard mitigation can be implemented to improve the resiliency of people and property.

Hazard mitigation is defined as sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has published a report on Costs and Benefits of Natural Hazard Mitigation that includes hazard mitigation case studies.

More information: Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development,  Disasters by Design,  Hazard Mitigation,  Living on the Coast - Smart Growth Tools on the Internet

NOAA's Sustain Healthy Coasts (SHC) Vision

The SHC Coastal Community Objective is to foster well-planned and revitalized coastal communities that sustain coastal economies, are compatible with the natural environment, minimize the risks from nature's hazards, and provide access to coastal resources for the public's use and enjoyment.

By 2005, the nation's coasts will have more productive and diverse habitats for fish and wildlife and cleaner coastal waters for recreation and the production of seafood. Coastal communities will have thriving, sustainable economies based on well-planned development and healthy coastal ecosystems.

Coastal Storms Initiative

As the nation is faced with rising costs and damages associated with coastal hazards, the Coastal Storms Initiative establishes a framework to help ensure the safety of the population, help the economy, and sustain the environment of our coastal areas.

The goal of this NOAA initiative is to provide coastal managers with readily accessible data and information, forecasts, tools, and training regarding storm impacts within coastal watersheds. The initiative establishes a framework for action to meet the user needs and incorporates a spectrum of NOAA products and services.