Natural Hazards in North Carolina Infographic: Major Storms and Flooding: Since 1990, the U.S. Government has announced 20 federal disaster declarations for tropical storms and flooding in North Carolina. In North Carolina, Hurricane Floyd caused: 25 fatalities, 80,000 damaged homes, and 500,000 people without electricity. In 2015, the Triangle broke the record for most rainy days since 1948. Landslides: Hurricane Ivan dumped 30 inches of rainfall in 10 days, triggering 140 landslides, the largest of which killed 5 people, injured 2, and destroyed 15 buildings. Since 1940, 139 structures in North Carolina, mainly homes, have been built in debris flow paths. Drought: In 2007, each of North Carolina's 100 counties experienced moderate to exceptional drought conditions - The agricultural industry lost $573 million. 14 drinking water systems had less than 100 days of water supply remaining, affecting 5 million people. Wildfires: The South leads the nation in annual wildfires incidences, averaging approximately 4,500 fires per year. North Carolina's most severe fire season occurs February till May. Debris burning is the #1 cause of wildfires in North Carolina. The more we know, the more we can protect... UNC Center for Natural Hazards Resilience: leads the Department of Homeland Security's Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence. Offers a 10-credit-hour Natural Hazards Resilience certificate, which focuses on the impacts of natural hazards and disasters on human settlement including those exacerbated by elimate change. Researches and addresses the needs of communities in North Carolina and across the United States that are vulnerable to coastal hazards. Applies the UNC-developed ADCIRC computer model for studying storm surges, waves, and coastal flooding due to severe storms such as hurricanes. UNC Institute of Marine Sciences: Leads the King Tides Project to better understand the relationship between the tidal cycle and flooding in coastal areas. Developed and applied ADCIRC, a powerful computer model for predicting the response of the coastal ocean to tides and storms. Studies the dynamics of water quality in stormwater runoff including the detection of harmful bacteria. Researches the erosion and overwash - the flow of water and sediment - of barried islands from storm events. North Carolina Botanical Garden at UNC: Conducts prescribed fries to reduce local fuel loads - preventing catastrophic wildfires caused by careless debris burning, lightning strikes, and arson. UNC Institute for the Environment: Studies the impact of sea level rise and saltwater intrusion on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula to help local governments and planners make more informed infrastructure decisions. Develops drought management plans through engineering and economic mechanisms to protect the region. Assists North Carolina Geological Survey with its landslide risk-mapping project to improve the process for indentifying and preventing future landslides. Collaborates with the U.S. Forest Service to help resource managers and policy makers in the Southeast better plan for potential wildfires. UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health: Houses the Water Institute at UNC , which assesses the vulnerability of drinking water systems during floods, droughts, and cyclones for every county in the United States. Trained more than 1000 first responders, students, and local officials across North Carolina in disaster management in 2015. Graduated 400 students from the Community Preparedness Disaster Management program. Uses sophisticated models that help cities better understand how to integrate conservation, water transfers among communities, and new water supplies in a cost-effective manner. Research the impact of fires on air quality and climate change. UNC College of Arts and Sciences: Natural hazards research extends throughout the College including topics like human response to natural hazards (anthropology), catastrophic risk insurance coverage (law), coastal real estate markets with environmental risk (economics), climatology and meteorology (geography), and philosophical issues in risk and risk analysis (philosophy). The Department of City and Regional Planning specializes in topics like natural hazard mitigation, disaster recovery and climate change adaptation, coastal zone management, and management of water supplies during drought. The Department of Geographic leads the Carolina's Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CISA) interdisciplinary research team, which connects climate science and decision-making in the realms of water, coast, and health. Researchers in the Department of Geological Sciences have worked on the North Carolina landslide mapping team, committed to finding areas potentially affected by landslides.