Building Resilience: Share you input to help us create our resilience plan

July 2024

Given that Hilton Head Island is a barrier island subject to the impacts of sea level rise and other climate-related effects, it is crucial that we act to fortify the Island's infrastructure and developed areas against future storm events and potential sea level rise.

In keeping with the goals of our Strategic Action Plan, the Town is creating a resilience plan that will serve as a roadmap for dealing with flooding and other related threats. The Town has contracted with a highly qualified firm, Dewberry, known for its expertise in planning, design, and construction, to develop a Resilience Plan specific to Hilton Head Island.

The prudent application of climate change science and data to inform our administrative decisions, public policy, and infrastructure investments is critical to improving the Island's resiliency. Using the most up-to-date models and sound information on future projections, we can assess vulnerabilities and enhance our adaptive capacity with tools and actions designed to protect the short- and long-term interests of our residents, businesses, and public infrastructure.

The success of this plan hinges on your active participation. The first phase involves gathering and analyzing information on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) that the Town faces about sea level rise and climate adaptation. We need your insights and perspectives to make this plan comprehensive and practical.

We want to hear from you if you are concerned about flooding, rising sea levels, or adapting to changing weather conditions. We urge you to take part in our survey that will help us gauge the community's understanding of resilience, natural hazards such as tropical storms, beach erosion and extreme heat; flooding from high tides, storm surges and stormwater; preventive measures to reduce damage and loss from coastal hazards; and strategies we can use to increase our resilience. Your time and input are invaluable, and your opinion matters. Please visit our website at hiltonheadislandsc.gov/resilience/surveys/ to share your thoughts. The survey closes July 31.

In addition to the survey, we have hosted open house events on this topic to allow the public to meet with our staff and learn why resilience planning is essential. We plan to repeat these events in the fall so you can hear more about the development of our Island-wide resilience plan as we try to understand the issues and conditions affecting our community's homes, streets, neighborhoods, and environment.

I also invite you to visit the resilience page on the Town's website at hiltonheadislandsc.gov/resilience/ to learn more about our effort to protect our Island.