Intern Cohort 2026: Presentation on Climate Resilience
For many years, people called Asheville, North Carolina, a “climate haven.” It was often labeled a safe refuge because it sits high in the Blue Ridge Mountains, well above expected sea level rise and more than 100 miles from coastal hazards. However, catastrophic inland flooding brought on by Hurricane Helene in 2024 shattered this image, proving that no inland area is fully immune to the impacts of a changing climate. The expectations were different for Fort Myers Beach, Florida, the main city in a barrier island chain. Most people already understood that the area carried some of the highest climate risks in the country. Even so, Hurricane Ian in 2022 demonstrated that recognizing a hazard is not the same as being prepared for it. The city experienced widespread damage from storm surge and catastrophic winds. In the aftermath, both locations are now dealing with a similar problem: the people impacted most by the storms can least afford to stay after recovery. This common thread, identified by our interns as part of their summer project work, emphasizes the importance of proactive planning for and productive dialogue about both climate and social resilience. Their findings will continue to help us guide the conversations we are already having with our client communities across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.
What the Map Doesn’t Show
Hurricane Helene brought 24 inches of rain to Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024. That’s rainfall with about a 0.1% chance of happening in any given year. In the mountains, a hurricane doesn’t appear as wind and surge, the way it does in coastal regions—it shows up as rising rivers and mudslides. Some numbers from the aftermath of the disasters stuck with us. Only about 0.8% of homes in Asheville and Buncombe County had a FEMA flood insurance policy, so the cost of rebuilding fell on individual households. In a lot of cases, the repairs never happened, and many homes were simply abandoned. Notably, if FEMA had drawn its flood maps using current rainfall forecasting instead of the older data it then relied on, about ten times as many properties would have fallen inside the 100-year flood zone. With outdated maps, many households were unaware of their true climate risks. Lessons learned here apply beyond Asheville. A flood zone is one polygonal area on a regulatory map, not representative of any specific, real-life barrier to floodwater. Communities that treat FEMA designations as the ultimate determinant of safety are underestimating threats that are increasingly likely to occur in the next few decades.
The Hidden Cost
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida on Sept. 28, 2022, as a Category 4 hurricane. It drove storm surge up to 18 feet across the barrier islands and destroyed about 900 buildings across Fort Myers Beach alone. Notably, homeowners’ insurance premiums in Fort Myers Beach rose 56% between 2019 and 2024, compared to about 30% across the rest of the state.
A combination of factors is contributing to increased flood risk and storm impacts that exceed expectations for vulnerable communities, to devastating effect. One major factor is intensive development in coastal areas, which reduces natural buffers such as wetlands that help absorb floodwaters and mitigate storm surge. This is further enabled by state regulations that expand opportunities for higher-density development and limit local control over some land-use decisions in hazard-prone areas. The potentially dangerous impact of these decisions has been exacerbated by development in and around older, ground level structures, built under outdated building codes not suited for strong storm surges.
Who Gets to Stay
Asheville and Fort Myers witnessed a similar problem after storm recovery. In Asheville, wealthier newcomers looking for safer ground had already been pushing home prices upwards before Hurricane Helene hit. After the storm, the situation worsened as long-time residents struggled to access FEMA funds to rebuild their homes. Damaged houses were invaded with mold, and eviction rates went up. In Fort Myers, something similar happened. Land at higher elevations became more valuable, and the people who had lived there longest were priced out of the safest areas. Researchers have been calling this “green gentrification” or “climate gentrification.” Solving only for flooding and the natural disaster risks losing the culture and identity of the community that has been impacted.
The Climate Conversation
During the interns’ final project presentation, the topic that sparked the most discussion centered on the important role planners play in communicating complex ideas, listening to stakeholders, and identifying strategies that work for the community as a whole.
Through their analysis of the major issues facing the case study communities and lessons learned from both classroom and professional experiences, the interns created a set of communication strategies designed to help planners effectively discuss climate change and build support for resilience initiatives:
Name the specific hazard. Flooding, storm surge, heat, drought. “Climate change” is abstract, but local conditions are impossible to deny, such as a local river that rises 10 feet during a flood and floods surrounding houses.
Explain topics using plain language and local references. Talk about what people already notice and experience: Hotter summers, less rain, a worse harvest. Show how scientific terms like greenhouse gases, ecosystem change, wetlands erosion, and groundwater depletion are affecting a specific community, rather than relying on global or national aggregates.
Connect risks to relatable, everyday safety and financial concerns. Tie the need for adaption back to the things people often care most, like the safety of their family and friends, and the dangers and costs of paying for recovery instead of working to prevent.
Acknowledge existing community strengths. Recognize what physical, cultural, and social assets the community already has in place, respecting its history while taking steps to build its resiliency.
If you have more questions or ideas about how to integrate climate resilience into a comprehensive plan update or a UDO rewrite, we’d love to hear from you. A huge thanks to our 2026 Get Inspired Internship cohort!
