Jacksonville resiliency strategy: More residents impacted by flooding if development doesn’t change

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville warns of more intense flooding in years to come and tens of thousands more residents will be impacted if development plans don’t change.

The city’s first-ever resiliency office developed a strategy to address the increased risks around climate change.

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“We really see this as an opportunity to steer our future away from that worst-case scenario,” Anne Coglianese, the city’s chief resilience officer, said. “The decisions we make today will really have implications for the future.”

Coglianese has been in the position for three years and spent the past year developing the new resiliency strategy.

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While areas in San Marco, Moncrief, and Riverside are familiar with flooding, the plan looks at neighborhoods city-wide. Coglianese said the compound flood model will help the city layout development with an emphasis on low-risk areas, plan drainage improvement projects, and preserve green space to absorb flooding.

Overall, the strategy lays out 45 different actions to address climate change over the next 50 years.

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“As we saw last week, you can be set back from the river or coast and still experience a flood disruption from heavy rain events,” Coglianese said. “As we make long-range plans, we need to make sure we aren’t inadvertently missing an area that’s going to become an issue in the future.”

According to the strategy, if the city continues development the same way it is currently, Jacksonville could see up to three times as many people living in areas vulnerable to flooding, from nearly 140,000 now to more than 430,000 people.

The plan also addresses extreme heat, with plans for increased tree coverage and work with the parks department to develop splash pads.

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