CRISFIELD, Md. – A public meeting was held in Crisfield Saturday to discuss natural strategies that would protect the area from flooding. Local officials and residents attended the EPA session.

FEMA’s Region 3 Mitigation Coordinator, Hailey Stern is excited about her new concept. Crisfield’s Mitigation Strategy. “In Crisfield, this project will be designed to make the city more sustainable in the future. Hopefully, people will not be financially devastated by regular floods.”

Many members of the public shared their concerns and topics such as flooding, erosion and funding were discussed at the meeting. The goal of groups like EPA and FEMA is to prepare Crisfield for a changing environment. EPA environmental scientist Roxolana Kashuba encouraged residents, saying there are many ways to deal with the problems.

“Mitigation strategies include raised marshes, building dunes on the edges of marshes and restoring existing dunes. We could potentially install artificial oyster reefs to help break up incoming wave energy.”

The goal of FEMA’s new concept plan is to protect the urban barrier, improve interior drainage and maintain wetlands. Stern believes the plan will benefit the area.

“We will protect against the storms we saw in 2021 and 2022, if this project was in place, we would not have seen the severe damage that we have seen in Crisfield.”

Crisfield will continue to work with EPA and FEMA to explore additional solutions.

EPA presents the Crisfield Resilience Academy. An environmental education opportunity for Crisfield area residents.

The first session is scheduled for February 1, 2025. You can register here.