Designing with Vision: Funding Pre-Disaster Adaptation in New Jersey

Key Takeaways:

• According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 2024, there were 27 weather and climate events costing $1 billion or more in damages. Reacting to extreme weather events as they happen is difficult and expensive, yet this is the federal government’s predominant approach.
• A study by Allstate and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that every dollar spent to prepare for climate disasters prevents thirteen dollars’ worth of economic impact, damage, and cleanup costs.
• After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New Jersey received U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding for two adaptation projects: Rebuild by Design (RBD) – Hudson River and RBD – RBD – Hudson River received an initial $230 million.
• RBD – Hudson River includes six parks in Hoboken designed to retain and rebuff water. In 2022 and 2023, Hoboken saw an 88% reduction in all flooding events and 4.2 million gallons of rain and stormwater were isolated in the City’s resiliency parks during storm events.