How nature protects North Carolina communities against flooding

The problem

Flooding is a common natural hazard in North Carolina. Large flooding events like Hurricanes Matthew, Florence and Helene have taken lives, uprooted businesses, devastated homes and racked up billions of dollars in damage.

While there are statewide and local efforts underway to reduce communities’ flood risks, there are also increasing pollution and development threats to North Carolina’s natural areas and working lands. Forests, wetlands and streams are critical ecosystems for flood management, and by building on or destroying them, it puts people directly in harm’s way and exacerbates flooding impacts. Recent federal rollbacks have put many of these ecosystems at increased risk, including millions of acres of wetlands in NC that may have lost protection.

Preserving nature reduces flood risk

To protect communities from increasing flood risk, we need to preserve nature and invest in its benefits. Wetlands, for instance, act as sponges and can absorb up to 1.5 million gallons of water within a single acre. Meanwhile, forests combat stormwater runoff, and streams maintain our natural drainage systems. 

We can support both North Carolina’s nature and communities by increasing conservation investments, like supporting the NC Land and Water Fund, and putting wetlands protections in place at state and local levels.

In doing this, we reduce our flood risks and lower the cost of disaster recovery and response. In fact, it’s been reported that every dollar spent on climate resilience and preparedness saves communities $13 in damages, cleanup costs and economic impact when disasters strike. 

Additional benefits to preserving nature include protecting wildlife habitat, supporting the tourism industry and celebrating North Carolina’s rich outdoor recreation and traditions.