Community Disaster Resilience Zones Program

As part of the NC Resilient Communities Program, NCORR is helping plan and implement resilience initiatives in high-risk census tracts called Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ). The CDRZ designation was created by Congress in 2022 to identify areas most physically and socially vulnerable to natural hazards and climate change. Several federal grant programs offer specific advantages to projects that benefit CDRZ. NCORR connects the North Carolina CDRZ communities to training, funding, capacity building and technical support to advance their resilience priorities. This work is made possible by a grant from the Geos Institute’s Climate Ready America Southeast Navigator Network Program.

The North Carolina CDRZs include census tracts in:

North Carolina’s CDRZs are experiencing serious impacts of climate change like sea level rise, frequent flooding, groundwater rise, and drainage issues.

The Resilient Communities Program integrates short-term resilience-building needs with long-term thinking and an understanding of future conditions. NCORR bases its efforts on listening and learning from communities about their needs and priorities. We combine that local knowledge with our subject matter expertise to recommend next steps. By working with multiple communities, the Resilient Communities Program provides insight on common resilience issues across a region or the state.