1. Rutgers University Henry Mayer, PhD Matt Campo Jennifer Whytlaw
NOAA Port Tomorrow –Resilience of Mid-Atlantic Ports and Surrounding Communities
Rutgers University
Henry Mayer, PhD
Matt Campo
Jennifer Whytlaw

2. Increase Resilience of the Port & Communities
Commercial waterfront users and surrounding Hampton Roads communities share many of the same risks to storms, floods, sea level rise and other natural hazards.
Degree of impacts may vary, but often they affect transportation networks, utilities, business and personal assets, jobs and the local and regional economy.
Partnering to leverage investments in infrastructure upgrades and hazard mitigation programs across adjoining coastal areas is a win-win for all:
Reduce redundancy and increase collaboration
Greater resilience to natural hazards

3. Collaborative Port & Community Planning
Utilize NOAA’s existing Port Tomorrow web-based platform to house geospatial and other relevant data needed for decision makers to:
Visualize where and how commercial waterfront facilities and surrounding communities may be impacted by current and projected flooding, storm surge, sea level rise, and other natural hazards;
Identify critical infrastructure, dependent businesses, transportation networks, hazardous materials, and other important assets at risk in the near and longer term;
Develop coordinated emergency management plans for short term response and collaborative adaptation, mitigation and infrastructure investment programs to reduce impacts over the longer term.

4. Activities to Date
Review current Port Tomorrow website and catalogue data sources and content
Presentations* and Discussions with:
Port of VA Lower Chesapeake Bay Use Sub-Committee*
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission* (working group call next wk)
Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Virginia Area Maritime Security Committee*
Port of Virginia (follow-on conf. call TBD)
MARAD
HUD / NDRC Committee*
Mississippi – Alabama Sea Grant
ODU Mitigation & Adaptation Research in VA Workshop* (next week)
Maritime Transportation System Planning Subcommittee* (October)

5. What Should We Call It? Today: Port Tomorrow Resiliency Planning Tool
Largely focused on building resiliency of Port and marine transportation system
Multiple NOAA and other federal websites have high quality and relevant data and models:
Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA)
Digital Coast Sea Level Rise (SLR) and Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper (CFE)
National Weather Service Flood Watch and Warnings
Integrate with local and regional spatial data in Hampton Roads area developed by municipalities, port stakeholders, federal agencies, and universities
Future: Port Community Resilience Planning Tool
Collaborative risk analysis and mitigation planning tool

6. Project Tasks
Review and update Port Tomorrow data and mapping through interviews and 2-3 Focus Groups
Develop updated Prototype Port Tomorrow Tool for further discussion
Demonstrate updated Prototype Port Tomorrow Tool in specific planning exercises
Incorporate feedback from these planning exercises into the final prototype design recommended to NOAA for investment.