Resiliency
New York City is already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Heat waves, coastal storms, and heavy rains will only become more severe and frequent as global temperatures rise. These risks underscore the need to protect our most vulnerable neighbors from flooding and extreme heat by strengthening the social resilience of our communities and the physical resilience of our infrastructure. Learn more about the city’s efforts to adapt to a changing climate and find resources to prepare for climate emergencies below.
Coastal Flood Risk
Hurricanes, tropical storms, nor’easters and other coastal storms can cause destructive storm surge in waterfront communities. Today, nearly 2.5 million New Yorkers live in the 100-year floodplain. As climate change brings more intense and frequent coastal storms, more areas of the city will be at risk in the coming decades. Even in the absence of a storm, low-lying neighborhoods are vulnerable to tidal flooding (also known as sunny day, nuisance, or blue-sky flooding) as sea levels rise.
Use this map to see how vulnerability to coastal flooding and sea level rise changes over time, and to learn more about the many projects that the City is undertaking to strengthen the resiliency of our communities to future coastal storms. Projects are drawn from the NYC Hazard Mitigation Plan and the City’s 10-Year Capital Plan.
Heat Risk
Extreme heat is the leading cause of mortality from natural disasters in NYC and represents a growing threat as heat waves double by the 2050s and triple by the end of the century. The impacts of extreme heat are exacerbated by the urban heat island effect, in which highly paved urban areas are hotter than suburban and rural places with more greenery. Due to historic legacies of racial disinvestment and redlining practices, communities of color today are more likely to live in neighborhoods with fewer trees and green spaces. Physical exposure to heat is often exacerbated by other factors, including access to air conditioning, age, and pre-existing health conditions, leaving some people disproportionately vulnerable to rising temperatures. The Heat Vulnerability Index uses these physical, social, and economic factors to assess the vulnerability of different neighborhoods to heat.
Use the map to explore heat vulnerability and vegetative cover across the city, and find nearby cooling sites, drinking fountains, and spray showers to find relief from the heat.
Stormwater and Flash Flood Risk
High-intensity, short-duration rainfall can occur with little warning, causing flash floods or cloudbursts, and will only become more severe with climate change. Unlike coastal flooding that only affects waterfront areas, extreme rainfall can also affect inland areas. Areas with a lot of paved and impervious surfaces, poor street grading, blocked outfalls, or insufficient stormwater management capacity are especially at risk from extreme rainfall and can experience flash flooding as rainwaters overwhelm the local sewer network. Moreover, around 60% of NYC’s sewer system carries combined sanitary and stormwater flows. During heavy rains, a mixture of rainwater and sewage from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) pours from outfalls directly into local waterways, leading to high levels of water pollution.
This stormwater map shows locations across the city that will be most affected by moderate and extreme rainfall, and as well as projects that the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is undertaking to expand the green infrastructure and storm sewer networks that will alleviate the impacts of heavy rainfall. Learn more about how green infrastructure works to capture stormwater, and follow DEP’s Cloudburst initiative to address heavy downpours like Hurricane Ida.
Community Preparedness
All communities need to be prepared for various kinds of emergencies, from heat waves to flash flooding. New York City Emergency Management provides many resources for emergency preparedness.
Resources
-
Residents
Make a disaster plan with your household
-
Communities
Develop an emergency planning toolkit with your community
-
Organizations
Request preparedness training for your organization
-
Businesses
Develop a preparedness or continuity of operations plan for your business