The Northeast Florida Regional Council, along with five other regional planning councils from across Florida, are getting $1.49 million to develop a statewide approach to flood planning.
The three-year project will provide cities across Florida with a framework for creating disaster models, preparing strategies and determining how to prioritize and fund flood mitigation projects.
Funding for the project comes from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
“This will be a highly impactful project in helping to make Florida more resilient to flooding,” said NEFRC CEO Beth Payne. “With so much of our region vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise and coastal flooding, the NEFRC has been focused on resiliency for years. This project is designed to help counties not just in our region but around the state, including inland areas where major rain events cause serious problems.”
The NEFRC will take the lead on organizing data for the project. The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council will take the lead on technical work and the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council will act as project manager.
“The resiliency of the state of Florida remains a top priority for my administration as we approach the two-year anniversary of my executive order to achieve more now for Florida’s environment,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis. “I’m pleased to build on our environmental achievements with this first-of-its-kind, mitigation program that will provide Florida’s communities the opportunity to become more resilient to future storms.”
Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.
