Source: NC PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE, 8/18/20

A new survey finds more North Carolinians are troubled by the effects of climate change on hur! ricane season.

Out of more than 2,000 respondents who live in southeastern coastal states, around 65% said they think addressing climate change is an important priority for the nation. Half of respondents in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal regions said they are more worried than in previous years.

David Kelly, senior manager at the Environmental Defense Fund, said residents increasingly are being impacted by extreme weather events.

"It's becoming less of a theoretical conversation. More and more North Carolina communities are finding themselves on the front lines, with repeated catastrophic flooding from these rainfall events, the storm surges, the coastal flooding," Kelly said.

The poll also found climate change is a major concern, regardless of education level or race. Sixty-three percent of individuals without a college degree, and 70% of those with one, rated climate change as an important or top priority. Fifty five percent of Black respondents and 49% of Latinos said they are more concerned about hurricane season this year.

The upshot, Kelly said, is that the state is beginning to implement measures to not just respond to future disasters, but reduce the impact before they even occur.

"A lot of what we're seeing rise to the surface in that conversation is a reinvestment in the environment, helping to restore floodplains, reconstruct wetlands, investing in the health of our watersheds so that they're better able to accommodate these high-volume rain events," he said.

He also noted the increasing frequency of events means communities have less bounce-back time.

"There's not time to finish recovering, in some cases, from the last hurricane before the next one gets here," Kelly said. T"hat's exactly what we saw happening to Hurricane Florence, followed up less than two years later by Hurricane Matthew, which brought devastating rainfall and flooding to similar parts of the state. You did have communities that were still picking up the pieces."

The pandemic has added a layer of complexity to hurricane season, and Kelly noted residents should make plans in the event of an evacuation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered recommendations to prepare for and shelter during severe storms while reducing the spread of COVID-19.