Extreme weather events, climate phenomena, and environmental issues are presenting challenges that impact our infrastructure and assets and place burdens on our most vulnerable populations. Over the past few years, the Chattanooga area has experienced record rainfall and flooding, excessive heat and wildfires, and the impacts of tornadoes and a global pandemic. Citizens and communities must become more resilient in the face of these continued and inevitable challenges.
The City of Chattanooga - in partnership with regional public and private partners - have launched an effort to create a comprehensive mitigation plan for the region. This plan will expand the City’s awareness of potential threats to regional systems, including utilities, transportation networks, waterways and natural ecology, as well as economic, cultural,and educational centers resulting from ongoing changes to the climate, including storms, floods, and other catastrophic weather and naturally-occurring events.
Chattanooga Resilience Plan
The following documents should be used to capture your Resilience Action ideas for the Chattanooga Resilience Plan.
Action Workbook Instructions
This will provide instructions for filling out the information in the Resilience Strategy Workbook.
Action Development Questions
This document provides the stakeholders with questions to spur good action development.
Resilience Strategy Workbook
This file will be used to capture the plan's Resilience Action items.
Recent Updates
February 3, 2021
- Dwayne Marshall, Vice President of Community Investment for the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. Mr. Marshall described the work the Community Foundation had done to support local communities and nonprofits.
- Geoff Millener, Senior Programs and Operations Officer for the Enterprise Center. Mr. Millener presented the Resiliency Toolkits that were designed to help small businesses, faith groups, and nonprofits to recover from major disruptions and be prepared to weather future disruptions. A link to the toolkit can be found HERE. Mr. Millener also provided an overview of HCS EdConnect, the collaborative between the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Hamilton County Schools, EPB, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Foundation, and the Smart City Venture Fund. With EPB's help, this initiative provides high-speed internet to K-12 students that qualify for free-reduced lunch, thereby making it possible for every student within EPB's service area to participate in distance, remote, and virtual learning. Learn more about HCS EdConnect HERE.
- Bill Ulmer, Director of Community Health Services for the Hamilton County Department of Health. Mr. Ulmer talked about the challenges of testing and vaccinating citizens in the face of a global pandemic, and about the importance of ensuring that communities of color were educated, tested, and vaccinated. You can learn more about the Hamilton County Health Department's COVID-19 response HERE.
- Bishop Kevin Wallace, Senior Pastor of Redemption to the Nations Church. Bishop Wallace discussed the social service support that his church and many others provided to community members in need from both the pandemic and the tornadoes.
- Miles Huff, Senior Director of Talent Initiatives for the Chattanooga Area Chamber. Mr. Huff discussed the Chamber's support for entrepreneurs and the small business community through the launch of a new website called StartingBlockChattanooga.com, which helps entrepreneurs navigate Chattanooga's entrepreneurial ecosystem to find the help in the form of technical assistance, coaching, and funding opportunities. Mr. Huff also showcased the Chamber's recently launched site for connecting individuals to careers at ChattanoogaCalling.com. In response to the economic downturn and rise in unemployment from the pandemic, the Chamber recognized the need to attract talented individuals to key industries in Chattanooga.
- Michael Walton, Executive Director of Green|Spaces. Mr. Walton discussed the workforce initiatives that Green|Spaces have been working on. He also discussed the new Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. You can learn more about Green|Spaces work HERE.
Building Resiliency Actions for Pandemics