The Northeast Florida Regional Council on Thursday presented a countywide vulnerability assessment and a compound‑flooding analysis that map how storm surge, high tides and rainfall interact with rising seas to deepen and extend flooding inland, a city resilience planner told the Flagler Beach City Commission. “Compound flooding is when two separate events occur simultaneously,” Andrew Pokopiak, senior resiliency planner, said. “You can almost see five feet of difference in some of these water levels.”

The assessment, completed for Flagler County in November 2024, combines three flood types — rainfall‑induced flooding, storm surge and tidal or “nuisance” flooding — with sea‑level‑rise projections for a 2040 planning horizon. Pokopiak said the analysis produced GIS data tying critical assets (bridges, lift stations, wastewater plants, affordable housing) to modeled flood depths so cities can prioritize hardening measures and qualify adaptation projects for state or federal implementation funding. “The adaptation plan is essentially a key in the door for implementation funding,” he said.

Pokopiak and consultants used Taylor Engineering to produce a compound‑flood model that shows significantly larger inundation footprints than a standard single‑hazard assessment, particularly in northern Flagler County and around Crescent Lake. The council’s maps show water depths that could be several feet deeper during compound events than during lone hazards, and he said the adaptation plan due in December will recommend site‑level options such as roadway elevation, lift‑station hardening, beach renourishment and nature‑based shoreline solutions.

Commissioners asked how the study treats the Intracoastal Waterway, which the commission identified as a local priority; Pokopiak said the waterway contributes substantially to compound‑flood depths and that mitigation will require coordinated regional, county and state approaches. He said the council is trying to avoid recommending only hard seawalls and the adaptation plan will favor hybrid and living‑shoreline approaches where practical.

City staff were offered GIS maps and the county portal that allow municipal staff to display specific asset classes (transportation, utilities, buildings) under different storm, tide and sea‑level scenarios. Pokopiak said the assessment and adaptation plan can be amended to add city‑specific assets Flagler Beach wants prioritized. The council also recommended using the assessment to update land‑development and stormwater master plans and to inform grant applications.

The presentation closed with an offer to work with the city’s engineering staff to add locally identified targets to the county adaptation plan. The commission did not take formal action; city staff said they would follow up with the regional council to add Flagler Beach assets to the county plan if the commission directs them to do so.

The data and interactive maps are available through the Resilient First Coast portal maintained by the Northeast Florida Regional Council. Ending: The county adaptation plan is scheduled for public release later this year; local officials said they will use the plan as a basis for seeking implementation funding to harden at‑risk infrastructure.