Recap: Building Coastal Resilience: Norfolk's Comprehensive Resilience Strategy

In our recent webinar, Norfolk’s Chief Resilience Officer, Kyle Spencer, shared how the city is addressing sea level rise, flooding, and economic shifts through its three-part Resilience Strategy - focused on designing the coastal community of the future, fostering economic opportunity, and strengthening neighborhoods.

He outlined how Norfolk is leveraging advanced tools like the STORM system, TITAN tidal tracker, StormSense sensors, and smart city integrations like Waze alerts to enhance flood prediction and response. Spencer also highlighted the city’s partnership with Forerunner, which provides a centralized dashboard and public risk portal for managing flood zones, at-risk properties, and evacuation guidance. In addition, he described how investments in mixed-income housing, workforce programs, and job partnerships ensure that resilience benefits are shared equitably across the community.

His presentation showcased the Ohio Creek Project as a model of community-driven design, combining berms, floodwalls, living shorelines, and wetlands with parks and public spaces. Looking ahead, he previewed the $2.6 billion Coastal Storm Risk Management system - scheduled to break ground in late 2025 - as one of the largest resilience investments in the region’s history.

The webinar presentation can be downloaded here, and the recording is below.

Our webinars are hosted periodically to foster knowledge-sharing within the floodplain management community. 

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