Boston shares climate emergency preparations

Mayor Michelle Wu, emergency preparedness chief Adrian Jordan, chief climate officer Brian Swett, chief of operations Dion Irish, and public safety officials have shared Boston’s preparations and plans to deal with extreme weather events. These include efforts to lower risks with long-term climate resilience plans and ongoing efforts to update the City’s emergency response.

The briefing took place at the District A-7 police station in East Boston, where the new building design incorporates resiliency features, including stormwater chambers under the parking lot and stormwater planters that capture stormwater that falls on site, and a cool, white roof to help with extreme heat mitigation.

Citywide resilience efforts

As a coastal city, Boston faces the increasing climate risk of extreme heat, rising coastal flooding, and intense stormwater. The city’s cross-departmental approach has shifted the emphasis from planning to implementation, focusing on empowering residents, supporting communities at greatest risk of flooding and other emergency events, and lowering the risk citywide through resilience efforts.

“Climate risks require an all of government approach, and here in Boston we’ve been working on short- and long-term initiatives to better respond in emergency situations and protect our residents in the generations to come,” said mayor Michelle Wu. “Emergency weather events in other parts of the country have highlighted the need for us to share our progress and remind residents to take precautions now such as signing up for AlertBoston and familiarising themselves with our coastal flood map. I’m grateful to our City departments and external partners for all of their work behind the scenes to keep our communities safe.”

“As climate risks intensify, our approach must be both proactive to our current risks and adaptive to our changing climate”

The City has been working to develop and implement climate resilience projects to address coastal flooding, stormwater management, and extreme heat. Wu announced the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) has brought on a floodplain administrator who is working to improve floodplain management practices.

“As climate risks intensify, our approach must be both proactive to our current risks and adaptive to our changing climate. Boston is not only strengthening its emergency response capabilities but also making longer term infrastructure investments to protect our neighborhoods from rising seas, extreme storms, and dangerous heat,” said Swett. “I’m grateful for mayor Wu’s leadership, the dedication of our city teams, and the engagement of residents and business owners in making Boston a national leader in climate resilience and emergency preparedness.”