Raleigh wins federal education grant to help those most vulnerable to climate risks

The city of Raleigh recently won a federal education grant to inform and prepare residents for climate disasters.

Megan Anderson, with Raleigh's Office of Sustainability and Stormwater Management, says the city will prioritize the $441,760 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a climate education program to help protect communities most vulnerable to flooding and extreme heat.

"Unfortunately, those that live in low lying areas, those that are lower income, and communities of color are more vulnerable to these climate threats," Anderson said.

In recent years, the city has been working on identifying vulnerable areas using funding from the American Recovery Act to cross-compare floodplain, census and heat data. Anderson said information gathered from the maps have been used for mitigation strategies, including adding a sealant to some roadways that can minimize heat absorption and decrease pollution.

Raleigh's urban heat islands, concrete-covered areas that absorb heat and can be as much as 19 degrees hotter than other parts of the city, pose a growing health risk to vulnerable areas.

Documents for the Community Climate Education for a Resilient Raleigh program identified Biltmore Hills and Rochester Heights in Southeast Raleigh as two vulnerable communities.

These neighborhoods lie in some of the lowest areas of the watershed, receive runoff from highly-developed downtown Raleigh, and have been bisected by a major interstate, all of which exacerbate flooding issues.

Click or tap here: View Wake County's Community Vulnerability Index

According to the 2017 American Community Survey, the Southeast Raleigh area is 97% African American, with a median income of about $30,000 (half the average for Raleigh), has a significant senior population, a high disability rate of 39%, and five times the citywide average of households without transportation.

"Things like access to transportation, getting to a hospital, getting the resources you need if your power goes out ... those can be more difficult situations for folks that may not have access to a car or live in an area that has flooded and they need to get out," Anderson said. "So, we're really trying to work with those communities to understand what some of those climate impacts might be so that we can try to minimize harm if an emergency comes up."

Raleigh is working with Partners for Environmental Justice, an organization it has worked with for other climate projects, to implement the new education program and reach previously underserved populations.

Community educators called "learning cohorts" will be paid for participation and commit to projects for a few months at a time that could include preparedness workshops, leading community discussions, and connecting underserved neighborhoods with resiliency resources such as funding to expand tree canopy.

Many of the training sessions will take place at Walnut Creek Wetland Park, a green space that helps to manage stormwater and reduce heat.

The city also plans to use the grant to expand it's emergency preparedness guide and offer it in more languages. According to Raleigh data, 18.5% of residents speak a language other than English at home and the most common non-English language spoken is Spanish. More than 10% of the city's residents are Spanish speakers.

"The program is enlisting help from folks who are already trusted in their communities to learn more about these issues, how to work with government, how to understand environmental justice issues and what we can do to mitigate those in the future," Anderson said.