Volunteer Assisted Climate Cost Project to Build a StoryMap

The Climate Cost Project is a non-profit organization that runs the Climate Impact Census, an online platform for collecting data on immediate costs of climate impacts. The Climate Cost Project works with communities to use the data to prepare for a more resilient future.

The Climate Cost Project partnered with Horry County Rising in Horry County, South Carolina, to examine household financial impacts of flooding and repeat flooding. The project examined out-of-pocket spending, debt, and equity impacts on households, and the extent to which National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and FEMA grant assistance helped households to recover.

The Climate Cost Project decided to utilize ArcGIS Online to share the results of the Census with Horry County community members in a way that was both visually impactful and easy to understand. Michael Georgalas, a GISCorps volunteer and Senior GIS Analyst in New York, was selected for this project.

Michael worked with Sieren Ernst, CEO and Co-Founder of the Climate Cost Project, and a small team of volunteers to develop an Esri StoryMap highlighting the findings of the Climate Impact Census report. Michael created multiple maps using ArcGIS Online including current land cover in Horry County, and flooded household and their geographic relation to the Proposed FEMA flood zones and NOAA Coastal Flood Hazard Zones.

ArcGIS Online was an ideal tool for visualizing the impact of flooding on Horry County residents and the need for more accurate FEMA flood zones. Esri StoryMaps made it possible to share the data and narrative with local community members.

Data Sources:

• FEMA flood zones: https://www.horrycounty.org/gis/flood/ 
• NOAA Costal Flood Exposure: https://coast.noaa.gov/floodexposure/#-8793858,4018353,10z 
• Climate Cost Project: https://www.climatecostproject.org/horry-county
• Esri Living Atlas Land Cover: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/landcover/