FEMA and EPA work to provide solutions for flooding in Crisfield

CRISFIELD, Md. – A public meeting was held in Crisfield Saturday to discuss natural strategies that would protect the area from flooding. Local officials and residents attended the EPA session.

FEMA’s Region 3 Mitigation Coordinator, Hailey Stern is excited with their new concept. The Crisfield Mitigation Strategy. “In Crisfield, this project will be designed to make the city more sustainable in the future. Hopefully, economically people are not going to be devastated by regularly occurring flooding.”

Many of the public shared their concerns, and topics like flooding, erosion, and funding were talked about at the meeting. The goal for groups like EPA and FEMA is to prepare Crisfield for a changing environment.

EPA Environmental Scientist Roxolana Kashuba encouraged residents, stating says there are many ways to deal with the issues.

“Mitigation strategies include elevated marshes, building dunes on the edges of marshes, and restoring existing dunes. We could potentially install artificial oyster reefs to help break up incoming wave energy.”

The objective of FEMA’s new concept plan is to protect the city barrier, improve interior drainage, and maintain wetlands. Stern believes the plan will be beneficial to the area.

“We will protect from the storms we saw in 2021 and 2022, if this project was in place, then we wouldn’t have seen the severe damage that we have seen in Crisfield.”

Crisfield will continue to partner with the EPA and FEMA to explore further solutions.

EPA is presenting the Crisfield Resilience Academy with environmental education opportunities for Crisfield-area residents.

The first session is scheduled for February 1st, 2025. You can register here.