Thinking Locally to Protect the Coasts
August 21, 2025
Hurricane Erin’s battering of North Carolina’s Outer Banks is a stark reminder of the need to protect the nation’s coastal communities and lands. Local action can be critical, Samantha Montano argues in Issues. Notably, she calls for strengthening the capacity of local emergency management agencies, the “roots in each community” that prepare for and respond to natural disasters, mitigate dangers beforehand, and mount recovery efforts afterward. But they are underfunded and inadequately equipped, she writes: “Without increasing their capacity, there is little chance that emergency management agencies will have the ability to do mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery effectively.”