NOAA Engages Gulf Region to Support Hazard Resilient Communities

Rebuilt pier in Biloxi.
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(Photo Credit: Caren Madsen.)

Just days after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast in 2005, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour set the tone for recovery. He vowed that his state would emerge from the tragedy better and safer than before. Almost three years later, the topic of community resilience was prevalent in Biloxi where NOAA assisted the State of Mississippi in engaging local officials as part of a Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) stakeholder meeting.  This was the first in a series of regional workshops that GOMA States will conduct with support from NOAA and EPA.  The meetings are designed to gather feedback on seven proposed actions that governors of the five Gulf States will consider for the 2009 update of the GOMA action plan.

NOAA Gulf Coast Services Center Director Todd Davison led a review of projects proposed by the GOMA resilience team.  This meeting provided members of the public, local decision makers and business communities with the opportunity to comment on the GOMA resilience recommendations before the plan is developed later this year.  The stakeholder workshop was part of the Ninth Annual Coastal Development Strategies Conference organized by the Partners for Smart Growth in Southern Mississippi. Speakers included U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, MS Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, historian and author Douglas Brinkley, Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, Former Mayor of Gloucester, MA John Bell and MS State Sen. Deborah Dawkins. Community leaders emphasized the opportunity to rebuild with hazard resilience and well-planned sustainable development as cornerstones of Katrina recovery.

“Out of the ashes can come life and it’s happening here now in Mississippi,” said Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge:  Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  “Mississippi leadership chose to be proactive instead of feeling victimized by the storm. That has made a big difference.”

Although rebuilding efforts may span a decade or more, signs of recovery are abundant along the coastal highway.  The recently opened Biloxi Bay Bridge was designed with a flood-resistant elevated deck and connects the communities of Biloxi and Ocean Springs  One of many community fishing piers destroyed by Hurricane Katrina was rebuilt and dedicated in Biloxi in recent weeks. Revisions to the flood maps convey greater risk and new homes in floodplains are being built with resilience techniques.  Many building facades have been repaired.  New businesses are opening and pre-Katrina businesses are returning.

“We are due for a renaissance,” said urban planner Ann Daigle.  “Every planner dreams of being here along the Gulf Coast and part of what’s happening here.  Comprehensive planning is change by choice, not by chance. We have new opportunities to do better planning and make sound choices about the future of this community.”

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