What is Resilience Planning?

Urban resilience is the ability to withstand and recover from unexpected shocks associated with natural hazards and climate change. Building resilience to these risks can be dealt with most effectively through strengthened urban planning and management.

What is the City doing to Build Resilience in the Community?

In 2022, the City of Roanoke was awarded a grant through the Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation’s Community Flood Preparedness Fund to prepare a “Flood Resilience Plan”. The Flood Resilience Plan will ensure the City will be better prepared, ready to respond, and able to recover from flood events. The planning study is anticipated to take around eight months to complete and the resulting Resilience Plan will enable City leaders to better understand flood­ing concerns throughout the entire City. This plan also positions the City to be able to access additional grant funding support in the future, towards resilience projects and strategies identified in the Plan.

What are the goals of Roanoke’s Flood Resilience Plan?

  • Identify natural hazards and vulnerabilities, especially those for the most at-risk portions of the community.
  • Analyze current capacity and propose strategies and solutions.
  • Develop a scorecard to rank projects with the most impact, with a focus on equitable ranking.

Who are the Project Partners?

City of Roanoke Stormwater Utility

City of Roanoke Department of Planning, Building & Development

City of Roanoke Office of Sustainability

A. Morton Thomas and Associates, Inc.

Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.

Learn More About Flooding in the City of Roanoke

Flood Zone Information and Flood Insurance

Flood Safety

The Flood of 1985 ArcGIS StoryMap

The initial Public Meetings for the Flood Resilience Plan have concluded. Please stay tuned for additional meetings during the Draft Phase of the planning process!

See the presentation slides from the Public Meetings below: Roanoke Resiliency Plan_Public Meetings
.

Monday, March 20th – 6:00-7:00 PM – Williamson Rd Library

Tuesday, March 21st – 5:00-6:00 PM – Belmont Library

Thursday, March 23rd – 6:00-7:00 PM – Online Zoom Meeting

Monday, March 27th – 6:00-7:00 PM – Melrose Branch Library

Wednesday, March 29th – 6:00-7:00 PM – Gainsboro Library

Thursday, March 30th – 6:00-7:00 PM – Raleigh Court Library

The initial engagement survey has been completed and is now closed. The results are summarized in the Resilience Plan.

Thank you for your participation!

Read the 2023 Resilience Plan:

2023 City of Roanoke Flood Resilience Plan

You can download or read in a larger format here.

Timeline:

  • Grant Award – March 2022
  • Public Outreach & Input – Jan.-March 2023
  • Drafting & Review Phase – April – September 2023
  • Adoption of Plan – October 2023 (Adopted October 16th)
  • Current DCR Grant Cycle – Closes November 12, 2023
    • Applying for grant funding of 2 projects
  • Follow up public engagement – 2024
Resilience Plan - 10-5-23 Briefing

Below are results from the Roanoke Area Flood Tracking Survey (RAFTS). The RAFTS is designed to collect flood observation data, including the date, time, locations, and photos of flooding issue(s) in the City. The resulting data will allow the project team to identify potential unknown or unreported flooding “hotspots” in our community. Use RAFTS to report flooding in your area, past or present!

*Click here to submit your own data to the RAFTS*

Questions or Concerns?

Please contact the Stormwater Utility

Mckenzie Brocker
Water Quality Administrator
mckenzie.brocker@roanokeva.gov
Phone: 540-853-5914