Abstract
The Gulf of Mexico is an area of rich culture and beautiful coastlines; however, coastal living comes with ever-increasing risk. Communities are already experiencing increased flooding and exacerbated storm surge due in part to sea-level rise (SLR). Many Gulf communities are already taking steps to become more resilient to current and future hazards, helping them bounce back after storms or to be ready for future conditions. Through a series of short films, the Resilience to Future Flooding video project seeks to show northern Gulf coastal audiences (i.e., local and county government, coastal trainers, nonprofits, and regional planners within Mississippi, Alabama, and northwest Florida) what sea-level rise is, its potential impacts, and what Gulf Coast communities are already doing about it. The films generated in this project are intentionally short, around 5 minutes, and were developed with extensive input from an Advisory Committee comprised of target audience sectors. Three ‘101’ films cover basic information about SLR in the northern Gulf, how SLR will change storm surge, and information on how SLR can be integrated into planning. There is also a series of case studies that showcase five Gulf communities that have taken on various adaptation and preparedness strategies, oftentimes without a primary or direct goal of enhancing their resilience to SLR. Each video includes content to make it more relevant to one of the northern Gulf states (Mississippi, Alabama, or northwest Florida). Through the combined use of local references and hearing directly from the communities, these case studies effectively encourage other communities to implement their own resilience projects. During the presentation, the project will be summarized, a description of how best to utilize these tools will be shared, and a video will be shown.
