The City of Pensacola has launched an interactive online Resiliency Story Map and sea level rise vulnerability assessment, which will help the city collect data to identify and plan for potential sea level rise throughout Pensacola.
Recognizing the threats that higher tides mean for coastal cities, the City of Pensacola applied for and received a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a vulnerability assessment and develop a resilience plan based on the results. The story map is one of the products of this grant, and describes in summary the data, methodology, and analysis undertaken by the city and the project team.
The resiliency story map and vulnerability assessment identify potential vulnerable infrastructure locations in the City of Pensacola expected to be impacted by sea level rise, along with an estimated timeline for sea level rise impacts. Through the data collected, the map also identifies priority planning areas for the city as it relates to sea level rise.
With increases in sea level in the coming decades, the effects of storm surges and high tides could increase the vulnerability of coastal areas to flooding events than in previous decades. Therefore, it is important to predict which areas will have the greatest impact in the upcoming years and enact mitigation plans accordingly. This Vulnerability Assessment presents an updated analysis of the City of Pensacola’s vulnerabilities, with a particular focus on ecological and social vulnerabilities in order to guide future planning efforts.
This vulnerability assessment is part of the City of Pensacola’s overarching climate planning strategy to address underlying climate change threats. The planning process included the establishment of the Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Task Force in 2017. The report produced by the Task Force provides a general outline of the direction for the City of Pensacola and the region to undertake specific actions to counter threats and impacts of climate change and extreme weather.