Lower Mystic Regional Climate Assessment
Centering Social Equity in Preparing Critical Infrastructure for Extreme Storms
Photo credit: Leo March
Centering Equity in Climate Resilience
When Superstorm Sandy hit New York and New Jersey, causing over $70 billion in damage, it caused lasting damage to the region’s infrastructure.
The Lower Mystic Watershed hosts the highest concentration of critical regional infrastructure north of New York City along with tens of thousands of low-income BIPOC residents.
Photo credit: The Atlantic
Part 1: Regional Infrastructure Functional Exercise
Seven host municipalities involved in the RMC partnered with 15 infrastructure managers and state and federal emergency response agencies to hold an October 2020 functional exercise based on a projected 2050 1% slow-moving winter Nor’easter directly hitting Boston Harbor.
Participants identified potential impacts on their own facilities, as well as indirect impacts from other infrastructure failing (e.g., electricity, transportation, communications). We prioritized a short list of critical infrastructure with the potential for long recovery times. Read findings
Photo credit: Coastandharbor.com
Part 2: Social Vulnerability Assessment
Following the exercise, a team of researchers and community-based organizations interviewed low-income local residents and workers to understand how their lives would be affected if critical infrastructure were damaged by a major coastal storm. We also asked questions about their lived experiences with COVID and during record 2015 blizzards. Read findings
Photo credit: New England Cable News
Synthesis
Combining the infrastructure and social vulnerability assessments allowed us to understand what information each provided that the other would have missed. It allows communities to prioritize those capital and operational improvements that make the biggest difference to vulnerable populations. We will use these data to decrease climate resilience gaps between wealthier neighborhoods and lower-income communities of color. Read report
Credit: Climate Ready Boston
