Coastal Flooding & Economic Resilience in Southern Maine

The planning study and assessment were funded by the Economic Development Administration.

The information presented in this StoryMap is for general planning purposes only.

The remaining sections of this StoryMap detail results for each individual town. Click on the town names above to jump to your town of interest. You can also continue scrolling to see each in turn.

EXPLORING THE MAPS Each town section includes several slides of results and maps. Scroll down to view each slide of the town results. There are several ways to explore the maps, and interact with the data!

Please note that some of the maps and map actions may take a little while to load when you are scrolling through the StoryMap.

Town Results

Local action is critical for addressing coastal storm hazards and climate change impacts. While the challenges posed by sea level rise may seem overwhelming, vulnerabilities can be addressed and resilience can be built incrementally through a variety of different options. There are numerous strategies that municipalities and regional entities can employ to enhance economic resilience to coastal storms and sea level rise. Based on the results of the coastal economic vulnerability assessment, SMPDC compiled locally relevant and implementable strategies for southern Maine. Overarching strategies are:

1. Develop financing mechanisms to fund resilience actions

2. Strengthen the resilience of infrastructure, systems, and facilities, especially in vulnerable areas

3. Incorporate coastal storm hazards and climate change into plans and policies

4. Increase preparedness for responding to coastal storm events

5. Direct development away from vulnerable areas and promote resilient development

6. Restore and support natural systems

7. Support the business community to prepare for and increase resilience to coastal storm events and climate change

These strategies and the many potential actions that could be taken to pursue them are described in detail in the  Strategies Summary. 

• To explore and interact with all data results, launch the  Interactive Web Mapping Application .

• Read the project final report:  Economic Resilience Assessment and Plan for Coastal York County