RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State University will lead a new federally funded effort to help towns and counties across the Carolinas and Georgia get ready for floods, heat waves, hurricanes and other extreme weather.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is putting $1.2 million behind NC State to start the South Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program, the university announced Friday. The one-year program grows out of five years of work by the Carolinas RISA team and widens the partnership to take in Georgia.
RISA teams are a long-running NOAA effort. Funded through the agency’s Climate Program Office, they pair researchers with state and local decision makers on weather and climate problems, and they operate in 13 regions nationwide. Their partners typically include emergency management offices, utilities, ports, small businesses and regional councils of government.
The South Atlantic team plans to study flooding, extreme heat, drought, wildfire and tropical storms, including cases where one disaster sets off another. Researchers also plan to look at how severe weather affects housing costs, renters and the path to owning a home, along with ways to make infrastructure hold up better in the heat. Hurricane Helene will serve as a case study of how a disaster shapes health, infrastructure, local economies and household finances over the years that follow, including the elevated wildfire risk left behind.
Jennifer Runkle, a senior research scientist at NC State’s North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, is the principal investigator. In the announcement, she said communities across the region are already making hard choices about hazards and need both strong science and the tools and staff to act on it. Jared Bowden, who directs the North Carolina State Climate Office, said the program’s value lies in working alongside partners on the decisions they face rather than simply handing over data.
Collaborators include North Carolina’s Museum of Life and Science along with UNC-Chapel Hill, the University of Georgia, Georgia State and Furman. Its partners include the state Department of Environmental Quality, the N.C. Department of Transportation, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, the Georgia Department of Transportation, the National Weather Service and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Work will happen through listening sessions, workshops, training and technical help.
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