North Carolina governor Roy Cooper and Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell joined other officials in Gastonia, N.C. today to announce $3.1 billion in federal funding for climate resilience projects nationwide.

Ten projects in North Carolina, including two in Hillsborough, will receive funding through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and the Flood Mitigation Assistance program. The ten projects are more than any other state in the union.

Hillsborough’s first project, Resilient Regional Water Supply, will receive $1.01 million. The project’s goal is to build a water pumping station which will connect with a neighboring provider. According to FEMA, the project will “provide redundancy and resiliency to the Town’s potable water supply.”

“Here in North Carolina, we’ve dealt with disasters that are only getting more intense due to climate change,” Cooper said. “Funding for this Gastonia project and others in North Carolina will help reduce risk to homes and other property and improve public safety, making our communities more resilient.”

In addition, Hillsborough will also receive $5.81 million for an Eno River pumping station relocation. The proposal would move the station out of a floodway. The station has been threatened by flooding eight times in the past, according to FEMA. During Hurricane Fran in 1996, water rose to as high as six feet up the station’s drywell.

“Due to the impacts of climate change, the town of Hillsborough is predicted to experience more frequent and severe weather events and an increased flooding risk, increasing risk of inundation at [the] River Pump Station,” FEMA’s report read.

Hillsborough town commissioner Matt Hughes described the grant on Twitter as “a game changer for the town as we grow and focus on climate resiliency.”

To learn more about both projects and others around North Carolina, click here.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Bryan Anderson

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