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The Town of Ocean Isle Beach is currently participating in the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s (DCM) Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) to enhance the Town’s resiliency to natural hazards.  Building resilience to natural hazards is vital for communities to help maintain quality of life, healthy growth, durable systems, and conservation of resources for present and future generations. Building resiliency to climate change and related hazards requires input from community members.

We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences by clicking on the Start Survey tab to answer our important questionnaire - we value your feedback!

Please read the material provided below to stay up to date about the Town of Ocean Isle Beach's Risk & Vulnerability Assessment planning process.

If you'd like to watch the recording of the public meetings, please click on the "Meeting Recording" tab to view.

Project Overview

Building resilience to natural hazards is vital for communities to help maintain quality of life, healthy growth, durable systems, and conservation of resources for present and future generations; however, several barriers to developing resilience to coastal risks exist, including economic and capacity constraints that have been exacerbated in recent times. Resiliency refers to not only the ability of a community to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threats, but to thrive amidst changing conditions or challenges.

A risk and vulnerability assessment is a key component to building resilience in a coastal community. Risks are assessed as multi-hazard threats to communities such as flooding, storm surge, or sea level rise that may occur amidst storms and a changing climate. Vulnerabilities are assessed as the degree of exposure to these risks, and the means to cope with stressors or disasters that arise from them.

Building a more resilient Town of Ocean Isle Beach requires careful, thorough planning efforts using sound, locally relevant data. Ocean Isle Beach has been awarded financial assistance in the form of technical resources on behalf of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s (DCM) Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP). The RCCP will advance coastal resilience efforts throughout the 20 coastal communities in North Carolina. The objectives of this program include:

  • Address barriers to coastal resilience in North Carolina at the local level, such as limited capacity, economic constraints, and social inequities;
  • Assist communities with risk and vulnerability assessments and developing a portfolio of planned and prioritized projects;
  • Advance coastal resilience projects to shovel-readiness, or ready for implementation; and
  • Link communities to funding streams for project implementation.

DCM has partnered Moffatt & Nichol, our selected contractor, with the Town of Ocean Isle Beach to conduct a Risk & Vulnerability Assessment. This project webpage will function as a storing house of all project-related information and a means for you to contribute in a meaningful way.

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SUBSCRIBE below! We will share information on the upcoming public meetings, opportunities to provide input on the initial concept plans, as well as the latest project updates.

Question title

Sign up for the latest updates by providing your name, email, and Ocean Isle Beach address below. Please note the ability to communicate project updates from the Project Team is intended for town residents and property owners.

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How will the Town of Ocean Isle Beach become more resilient to natural coastal hazards? What assets do we need to protect? What areas concern you? Where are the areas for improvement? We'd love to "see" your thoughts on the interactive map below!

Please "drag and drop" your idea pins onto the map below, using the themes as a guide. You can also provide comments, after dropping the pins onto the map, to further explain your thoughts.

Ocean Isle Beach - aerial drone photo of waterway

Source: Ocean Isle Beach

The Process Forward

The following project milestones outline our estimated nine-month planning process and highlights specific timeframes when our public meetings and other public involvement opportunities are expected to occur.  These dates may change as the project moves forward so please check back for updates.

Phase 1

  • CAT Meeting #1 – October 31, 2023
  • CAT Meeting #2 – December 5, 2023 10am-11:30am
  • Public Meeting #1 – December 5, 2023 6pm-8pm
  • Public Survey – December 2023 to January 2024
  • Draft Presentation of Risk & Vulnerability Assessment to Ocean Isle Beach – January 2024

Phase 2

  • CAT Meeting #3 – February 6, 2024 10am-12pm, Town Hall
  • CAT Meeting #4 – March 14, 2024 10am-12pm, Town Hall
  • Public Meeting #2 – March 14, 2024 6pm-8pm, Town Hall
  • Final Presentation of Resilience Strategy to Ocean Isle Beach – May 2024

Program Sponsor

Thank you to N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM)’s North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) for providing technical and financial assistance to advance coastal resilience efforts for the Town of Ocean Isle Beach. This program is funded in collaboration by:

Available Presentations & Downloads

Please find below links to our presentations and downloads. We will continue to add to this archive as materials are prepared, refined, and released. Additionally, planning resources, such as the RCCP Handbook and FEMA documents, are available for download.