January 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 42

R E S I L I E N C Y I N T H E FA C E O F A D V E R S I T Y

what kind of shocks or stresses they may
face. Parks have become increasingly important to community systems through
proven benefits to health, stormwater
management, urban heat island effects
and other stressors, and thus, are a vital
component of community resilience. "
To assess how park and recreation agencies are becoming more resilient, NRPA
staff writers interviewed key park and
recreation staff from cities, towns and regions that were most affected by some of
the most damaging natural disasters. Their
stories present a fascinating picture of how
they and their personnel have become
more resilient in the face of adversity

Hurricane Harvey caused
heavy damage to six
parks in Ingleside, Texas.

In late August, Hurricane Harvey stalled
over the Texas Gulf Coast, pulling an
unimaginable amount of moisture from
heated Gulf waters that then inundated
urban and rural areas with up to 60 inches of rain: possibly the greatest rainfall in
our nation's history. Soon after, Hurricane
Irma smashed into South Florida, carving
a path north through the state and knocking out power for up to 9 million people
at one point. Hurricane Maria destroyed
parts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and the impacts and costs from all
these systems are yet to be fully evaluated.
Numerous other extreme weather events
struck Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Minnesota and many
other states across the country.
Literally, thousands of communities
were damaged by these extreme weather events, and virtually every park and
recreation agency within those communities was impacted. The increasing
frequency and severity of such natural
disasters have prompted park and recreation officials to examine how prepared they are for whatever comes and
how resilient they will be able to be in
recovering. Much is at stake. Tens of
billions of dollars of damage to public
infrastructure and lands have resulted
from these " climate-enabled " extreme
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Parks & Recreation

weather events, and they are increasing
in number. Agency budgets and self-insurance funds are often not designed to
cover the consequences of major natural
disasters, and unprepared agencies can
spend months or years recovering.
Recognizing the magnitude of this
challenge, at its meeting in New Orleans
this past September, NRPA's Board of
Directors requested that NRPA staff give
special attention to the issue of resiliency
for parks and recreation. This mirrors a
national trend that's being followed by
many local and state government agencies. Cities, counties and states are ramping up their resiliency programs, hiring
chief resiliency officers and establishing
multiagency teams to assess preparedness and evaluate readiness for damages and stresses that will inevitably affect
their communities.
David Rouse, research and advisory
services director for the American Planning Association, says the American
Planning Association is devoting considerable resources to planning for resiliency. " Community resiliency has multiple
dimensions, " says Rouse, referencing
the Rockefeller Foundation definition of
resilience. " Fundamentally, resiliency is
about the ability of people and systems
to adapt, survive and grow, no matter

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Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey has been called " the
worst disaster in Texas history " by
FEMA Director William Long, and it affected major cities, small towns and rural
agricultural areas alike. Mariana Garcia,
parks and facilities manager for the city
of Ingleside, Texas, on the coastal bend
of the Gulf, says when Hurricane Harvey approached, it got " way bigger than
anyone ever anticipated. We began to seriously start preparing on Tuesday, August 24, and we were secured by Thursday morning before the storm hit. "
The greatest damage to their parks
occurred from wind. " Six of our parks
were heavily damaged. Wave damage
pounded Cove Park, which is on the water. The wind tore the roof off the service
building and support facilities like our
fish cleaning station were just gone.
" We know awareness and preparedness are really important, " says Garcia,
" but communications during storms is
critical. Our phones were down, electricity was off, and what made it worse was
we had to work from temporary offices.
Our recreation center is still closed, "
Garcia explains. " It tested positive for
mold and the A/C system was seriously
damaged. Contractors are totally overloaded. They say they can get us a quote,
but not for a couple of months. "

January 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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