CLUE’s Flood Resilient Communities (FRC) program collaborates with local governments to reduce vulnerability to flooding. The FRC program evaluates plan compliance, assesses community vulnerability, and looks at the impact of other climate change effects. It also assists with community education and outreach, as well as guidance on policy language and regulations.
Jerry Murphy leads the FRC program as a UF/IFAS state specialized program agent. He also serves as Region 2 director for the Florida Floodplain Managers Association and as an academia regent on the certification board of the national Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM).
The FRC program works with cities like Cape Canaveral, Palm Bay, and Satellite Beach on vulnerability assessments and create ordinances and development regulations to prevent and protect from flooding events. They assisted the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council in developing the Low-Impact Design/Development and Green Stormwater Infrastructure Ordinance and Guidebook for Volusia County.
The FRC was instrumental in creating a national legal guide with the Association of State Floodplain Managers. The No Adverse Impacts Legal Guide will assist local governments in Florida to better protect their citizens from flood hazards by adopting legally-defensible development standards exceeding the minimums required for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. Jerry Murphy has introduced the legal guide to thousands at conferences and symposiums for groups including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Florida Floodplain Managers Association, and the inaugural Flooding Adaptation Symposium organized by Florida Sea Grant.
The FRC is working with Manatee County to update their stormwater design manual and with the City of Neptune Beach on a vulnerability assessment and adaptation action plan. The program continues its collaboration with CLUE faculty Eban Bean and the Nature Conservancy on evaluating local stormwater management regulations utilizing the Code Audit Spreadsheet Tool (CAST) for Brevard County and several cities in Central Florida.
The program continues to support development of a graduate certificate in Floodplain Stewardship in partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions. FRC participates in FEMA’s Higher Education Program’s HBCU Special Interest Group and Murphy speaks about the effort to groups like the Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals (ANREP).
Learn more about the Flood Resilient Communities program by contacting State Specialized Program Agent Jerry Murphy.
