Creating Hyper-Local Flood Impact Teams

Interview with Jill Cornell

Author

Nick Nyhan
August 08, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

If there was a “bat signal” for flooding that could be beamed out across the metropolis of NYC, it might be Jill Cornell who could push that button.

Meet Jill Cornell

  • Community Engagement Specialist

  • NYC Office of Emergency Management

  • Lives in Brooklyn

The closest thing we have to a bat signal these days is the “Notify NYC” alert system which comes from the Office of Emergency Management where Jill works. But that is only one small piece of it.

We met Jill at the Rainproof NYC gathering this year where she spoke about getting hyper-local and building engaged networks of people in many different NYC communities.

While New Yorkers share some similar flooding needs, there are also local nuances: the hydrology of the area, the green/grey infrastructure, as well as different cultures, languages and leaders. That struck a chord with The City Sponge so we wanted to talk more.

A Few Questions for Jill Cornell from The City Sponge:

1. Before we get into work and what you do, what is your personal experience with flooding?

Hurricane Sandy was life-changing for me. At the time, I was doing different work, but after that I felt compelled to help, in the short-term but also the long-term.  I wanted to be part of the solution.  Some people got called to the ministry, and I got called to “preparedness.”

Where I live in Brooklyn, we have seen more flooding in the last 3 years than in the last 15 years.  Sure, our backyard has flooded in the past from time to time, but it is getting to a whole other level now, including things we have never seen before:

  • Last September, we saw whitecap waves on 11th Ave in Brooklyn. That month was the wettest in over 100 years (NY1), receiving 14 inches of rain - about three times the regular rate.

  • Also, at one point water was coming up from the ground Prospect Park, like a spring feeding a new river.  Usually the park absorbs water, but this time the park was completely saturated.

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2. How do you help NYC prepare for more flooding?

The mission of NYC Office of Emergency Management is “to help New Yorkers before, during, and after emergencies through preparedness, education, and response.”  Flooding is a big area for us, but we help on other climate related needs around storms, heat and air advisories.

My specific role is to outreach and engage different communities on how to prepare for emergencies. We help design and manage programs to do that for:

  • an individual who just wants to know what’s going on and what to do

  • community leaders who want to help many people on the ground with a variety of needs

Either way, it is about reach, awareness, and clear actions before, during, AND after an emergency like a flooding event.

Below are good examples, some of which we manage at NYCEM and others managed by different city teams…but I really like them.

1) Notify NYC alert system

You maybe seeing those alerts more often now :-) Over 1.2 million ppl have signed up in 14 languages (NYCEM).

We actually just created a special group of alerts for people who live in basement apartments - where flooding can be very dangerous - which includes getting called.

To sign up, click nyc.gov/notify or call 311

2) The Strengthening Communities Program

We offer financial grants to community networks to get trained and build their emergency preparedness plan in their neighborhood.

It helps get a set of specific useful things done ahead of time, such as:

+ a needs assessment

+ creating a community map

+ compiling a directory of resources to have when needed

+ communications plans and key things to share in emergencies

+ even tips on how to accept and manage volunteers / donations

We have already trained over 33 community teams in different neighborhoods across the five boroughs and we are recruiting more.

Here is short video on the program:

3) Plan for Hazards: Before, During and After a Flood

A portal to help people who want to plan for flooding specifically, with detailed checklists of things to do - and watch out for - before, during and after a flood happens. Also includes ways to get access to flash flood recovery funds and loan assistance.

4) Jamaica Bay Community Flood Fellows Program

Created by New York Sea Grant, the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay and NOAA, the Flood Fellows program is specific to Jamaica Bay where coastal flooding is also major concern.

This program finds local leaders who are wiling to learn about resilience tools and then share it with their community.

The Flood Fellows were described as “risk translators” in the Rainproof NYC Working Group and it captures what they do: using data and giving it local context by translating the forecasts, comparing current flood events to past ones, and then getting local people to engage on it. 

There are 12 Fellows now and we hope this grows. One example is Roger Gendron from the New Hamilton / Howard Beach area (story featuring him from The City).  He learned how to use the forecasting tools and puts it in context for his community.  Every NYC community could use a “Roger.”

5) FloodNet Neighborhood Profiles

FloodNet sets up special flood sensors around the city (see locations here) to monitor flooding in real-time and share data.

It is a public/private partnership that is connects communities, researchers, and NYC government agencies like the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) and NYC Office of Tech and Innovation (OTI).

But in addition to analyzing this data, the team goes a step further and also prepares specific neighborhood profiles on flooding and recommendations. Here is an example from Flatbush which has local details and history:

FloodNet Flatbush - One Pager .pdf869.13 KB • PDF File

3. What are the challenges in your role?

I’m often the first community engagement person they have met.  So even if we create a lot of tools and programs - if we don’t do community education we are nowhere. The data helps identify at risk neighborhoods, but then we need visuals and stories to engage people and helping them understand their risk.

But it’s a big city….vast. So we have to pick our spots to ensure impact vs spreading ourselves too thin. That means prioritizing where our help is needed AND wanted. 

We also have to evolve our maps to reflect the wider risks of flooding. The DEP has very detailed maps of at-risk flooding areas based on stormwater flooding and climate change projections, including sea level rise. But, for example, my area of Windsor Terrace does not currently not show up as an at-risk area even though we are seeing more flooding there today. Researchers are studying how to bring the historical ecology of neighborhoods into flood-risk mapping.

Lastly, a big challenge is “Cascading Impacts.” This basically means one event (flooding) in a system has a negative impact on other related systems (ex. subway)…like a domino effect. So it is not just more flooded areas, but also new needs for older adults, single parents with young children, hospitals, transit, energy, food, asylum seekers, nursing homes, people with different language needs (why Notify NYC is in 14 languages).

4. There is a lot going on, so how do you summarize progress?

In three ways:

  • The growing number of people signed up for Notify NYC and our ability to engage with people in 14 languages. 

  • Funding for programs like “Strengthening Communities” which has trained 33 vital networks in priority areas, helping them get ready for flooding - and other issues - BEFORE it is an emergency. 

  • The need is great, the tools are here and the community engagement team is getting city resources into community members’ hands.

🧽 Thank you, Jill

NYC Office of Emergency Management: https://www.nyc.gov/site/em/about/overview.page

NYC Emergency Management Flooding Page: https://www.nyc.gov/site/em/ready/flooding.page

If you read this far, we must be doing pretty good 😅 

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