Resiliency

Resiliency Services

The NEFRC provides a variety of resiliency services for the public, private and government sectors. This includes but is not limited to the areas of vulnerability assessments, adaptation planning, and climate change awareness. NEFRC maintains staff with expertise in climate change and resiliency.

• Administrative support for the Regional Resiliency Collaborative
• Assistance for member governments seeking to conduct vulnerability assessments and/or produce adaptation plans
• Partnership on projects to address resiliency at multiple scales
• Educational presentations and community events focused on sea level rise, adaptation planning, and community preparedness
• Technical workshops hosted in partnership with local, state, and Federal agencies
• Support for long-term disaster recovery groups and community organizations active in disaster
• Coordination between local governments, regulatory agencies, and national partners

Fara Ilami

Regional Resiliency Manager

Email: filami@nefrc.org

Phone: (904) 534-3650

Andrew Prokopiak

Senior Resiliency Planner

Email: aprokopiak@nefrc.org

Phone: (904) 749-4446

Robert Jordan

GIS Planner

Email: rjordan@nefrc.org

Cassidy Taylor

Post-Disaster Economic Recovery Coordinator

Email: ctaylor@nefrc.org

Phone: (904) 637-9739

Resilient First Coast

Northeast Florida has a Regional Resiliency Collaborative called Resilient First Coast. The purpose of the Collaborative is to bring together people from diverse backgrounds to tackle regional challenges involving resiliency to the effects of climate change, including sea level rise, flooding, and other hazards. This Collaborative is made up of many partners from multiple sectors, including local government, business, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, state and local agencies, utilities, and the military. Please visit the Resilient First Coast website to join the distribution list or to find out the most up-to-date information, including meeting dates and summaries.

Regional Resiliency Entity (RRE) Projects (funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection)

2024 RRE Project

The 2024 RRE project is comprised of multiple components, including development of a Regional Resiliency Action Plan, interjurisdictional coordination and planning, technical assistance and knowledge building regarding vulnerability assessments, and verification of regionally significant assets for the Comprehensive Statewide Flood Vulnerability and Sea Level Rise Data Set.

2023 RRE Project

The 2023 RRE project was Coordinating Vulnerability Assessments Among Northeast Florida Jurisdictions. One of the major outcomes of this project was a Manual of Standardized Methodologies, Reporting, and Resources for Vulnerability Assessments in Northeast Florida (currently in revision). Another major outcome was an Analysis of Existing Vulnerability Assessments: Commonalities, Discrepancies, and Best Practices.

2022 RRE Project

The 2022 RRE project was a Regional Resilience Priorities Analysis. One of the major outcomes of this project was a GIS story map

Local Government Assistance Projects (funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Flagler County Vulnerability Assessment, Compound Flooding Analysis, and Adaption Plan

The NEFRC is conducting a vulnerability assessment identifying vulnerabilities of critical assets in Flagler County to flooding hazards based on several risk factors. This is scheduled to be complete September 2024. In addition, the NEFRC is also conducting further analysis for compound flooding (the simultaneous occurrence of more than one type of flood event) for the County, along with an adaptation plan to identify and prioritize projects for critical assets to be adapted based on flooding impacts. This has an expected completion date of March 2025.

Baker County Vulnerability Assessment

The NEFRC is conducting a vulnerability assessment identifying vulnerabilities of critical assets in Baker County to flooding hazards based on several risk factors. This has an expected completion date of March 2025.

Multiregional Projects

Multiregional Planning and Mitigation Assessment (funded by Florida Commerce)

This project is a collaboration among 6 different regional planning councils to conduct a large-scale vulnerability assessment for extreme rainfall induced flooding for both coastal and inland areas and develop corresponding mitigation plans and projects, along with a best practices website and a tool for additional investigation. The project is currently underway, with an expected completion date of September 2025.

Other Projects

North Florida Resiliency Plan for the Health and Medical Lifeline (funded by Florida Commerce)

This project focuses on developing a resilience plan for healthcare facilities within 18 counties of North Florida by analyzing exposure to multiple types of flood events and creating mitigation strategies for both the facilities/grounds and the clinical care systems based on surveys, workshops, and best practices gathered from around the nation. The project is currently underway, with an expected completion date of December 2025.

Partnership Projects

Community Capacity Building and Planning in Vulnerable Communities of the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative (funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation)

This project is a partnership among 4 states (FL, GA, SC, and NC) to develop a suite of 20-25 nature-based solution project sites in vulnerable communities based on data analysis and community input, with an eventual goal of moving the projects forward through design and implementation stages. The overall purpose is to promote saltmarsh conservation in the Southeast United States. The project is scheduled to begin in June 2024 and is expected to be completed in March 2026.

Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency)

This is a partnership among participating counties and municipalities of the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean air for the region. The City of Jacksonville is the lead on this project, with the NEFRC facilitating a working group dedicated to supporting the objectives of the initiative.

Resiliency Tools and Resources

• Regional Resilience Exposure Tool (R2ET): an innovative online map tool that allows users to determine if specific resources in Northeast Florida are at risk to storm surge, flooding, and sea level rise. The flood layers can be overlaid on various data to graphically analyze where specific vulnerabilities occur – from critical facilities and population density to low-income/minority populations and wildlife.
• City of Jacksonville Special Committee on Resiliency – Final Report: to address community challenges related to resilience in Duval County, several stakeholder engagement frameworks were utilized to better inform both short-term and long-term decision-making processes.
• Public Private Regional Resiliency (P2R2): The Northeast Florida Regional Council (NEFRC) began efforts to engage the issue of sea-level rise and resiliency in 2014 with recommendations brought forward by its Public Private Regional Resiliency (P2R2) Committee. The P2R2 Committee was formed in response to an action item from the Regional Action Plan on Sea Level Rise. Since then, more recent developments from the NEFRC continue to push regional discussions forward in a proactive manner.