The importance of resilience in SC and beyond | The Newberry Observer
The importance of resilience in SC and beyond
By Evan Patrohay
On December 17 of last year, the city of Charleston experienced its highest non-tropical tide on record, the product of a brutal nor’easter that collided with the city during the otherwise quiet week before Christmas.
Although not a hurricane or tropical storm, the nor’easter produced the fourth highest tide ever recorded in the Charleston harbor, falling only behind the likes of the devastating Hurricane Hugo and other major storms.
The tide was two feet higher than predicted and flooded several shops, restaurants, and homes along the historical city’s streets. The bottom floor of my own office building narrowly avoided disaster, and only because its stout front staircase managed to halt the onslaught. The failed forecast of what is a (normally) routine and predictable event also served as an important lesson on the inherent uncertainty of natural forces even in the age of satellites, supercomputers, and AI. Every storm is different, and depending on timing, speed, and wind direction, even relatively weak storms may produce a severe impact.
The frequency of tidal and storm-driven flooding has increased markedly along America’s southeastern coast according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with further—and accelerating—increases predicted. Indeed, dramatic images of Charleston’s flooded streets, filled with submerged cars and anxious residents, are frustratingly common.
This worrying trend and the December storm bring to light a challenging but much-needed concept that is uniting residents, planners, and leaders alike: resilience.
Resilience was comprehensively defined in a 2013 executive order as “the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions.” The term has suffered much along the lines of phrases like sustainability and climate change and is in danger of becoming another victim of politicization.
But resilience should not be politicized, for it promotes prudence, stewardship, and strength. It is everything that a healthy society should strive for. Resilience seeks to proactively invest in protective measures before they are needed, so that communities may more easily bounce back from natural disasters. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) writes that “each dollar invested in resilience saves roughly $6 when disaster strikes.”
Resilience possesses three pillars: society, economy, and environment, all of which must be healthy for a community to be resilient. Therefore, resilience works best when both human and natural communities are thriving. In fact, nature-based solutions and hybrid solutions such as wetland restoration and bioswale construction are widely noted to provide the best storm damage protection when compared to traditional hard-armoring, especially when their additional ecosystem service benefits are considered.
Resilience is therefore a calling that requires one to be in touch with their community and its associated natural ecosystem on a deep level, a connectivity that can counteract much of the superfluidity and aloofness characteristic of our age. In short, resilience teaches us that humans and nature are interdependent. It shows us how healthy human communities support a healthy natural environment, and how a healthy natural environment supports healthy human communities in turn.
South Carolina has taken a leading role in strengthening the resilience of its coastal communities and is one of the only states to have an Office of Resilience, a comprehensive resilience plan, and a Floodwater Commission all dedicated to coastal preparation and adaptation. Citizens have also taken part at the local level and banded together to create impressive projects like the Charleston City Plan and the Nature-Based Exchange, each with unprecedented levels of local input.
Our leaders have also taken notice of the need for resilience on a national scale, and a bipartisan bill called the National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act (NCARS) has been introduced by US Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and US Representatives Scott Peters (D-CA) and María Salazar (R-FL). The bill would build on the momentum begun by countless other organizations dedicated to the cause of resilience by creating a Chief Resilience Officer in the White House, among other initiatives.
Though resilience has in many ways become the buzzword of today, we must not let ourselves lose sight of its true meaning and proactive calling. Let us take it as an opportunity to showcase the prudence and strength of our communities, refuse to make it yet another politicized term, and use it as a chance to bring all parties to the table for a stronger future.
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