Help New Bedford to become more climate resilient

New Bedford is updating its Hazard Mitigation Approach and is searching for general public input and suggestions.

The HMP is up-to-date each 5 many years and is required by the Federal Crisis Management Company in purchase to be eligible for thousands and thousands in federal grants, and our local weather and its impacts on our town have improved in the past five decades for sure.

Usually, the HMP has involved typical climate hazards to our coastal group, these as hurricanes, windstorms and noreasters. Now, for the initially time, we are together with extreme heat, sea level increase, pandemics, and major precipitation. On top of that, we are like secondary hazards that these weather conditions activities carry, such as vector-borne health conditions carried by insects that we now see in higher figures year-spherical.

The town is seeking to hear more about inhabitants problems and what they see in their neighborhoods. We are also hoping to master from people who have professional these impacts in other locations, like all those who have occur to New Bedford from other climates in which the occasions that are newer to us were being frequent occurrences.

The metropolis is working to equitably achieve all communities by means of community-based mostly organizations, social media, and on public transit, as properly as common neighborhood meetings.

The packed New Bedford Art Museum presentation by expert panelists and The New Bedford Gentle on Feb. 28 exhibits the overwhelming desire in climate modify in New Bedford and indicates that we have much more voices to listen to from. We hope that additional neighborhood members will choose the time to fill out this HMP study, obtainable in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The New Bedford HMP will use this details to consider essential infrastructure and companies, and examine strategies we can make our city a much more resilient location to reside, perform, and raise a relatives.

For much more facts or to take part in the survey, go to our HMP Tile on the NB Resilient Dashboard.

Michele Paul is the director of resilience and environmental stewardship for the city of New Bedford.