Dunedin vulnerability assessment shows storm-surge and sea-level risks to critical city assets

Dunedin city officials on a public input night presented a citywide vulnerability assessment and adaptation-planning effort funded by a $380,950 Resilient Florida grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, showing storm surge and sea-level rise hazards that would inundate multiple public assets.

City Manager Jennifer Bramley opened the session and said the grant — awarded in April 2024 — funds both the vulnerability assessment and the adaptation planning work and “unlocks for us, and for you, more opportunities for grant funding for city capital projects, and infrastructure improvements and adaption plans as well.”

The assessment, led by consultant WSP, maps exposure and sensitivity across 60 flood-hazard scenarios (combinations of tidal flooding, rainfall, storm surge and sea-level-rise projections) to identify where public infrastructure and facilities are most at risk and to inform future adaptation priorities.

Why this matters: The study translates technical projections into asset-level risk that city departments can use when deciding where to invest limited funds, where to relocate critical equipment (for example, generators) and which evacuation or shelter facilities may be compromised in major storms. Michelle Monteclaro, environmental program manager in Dunedin’s public works department, told attendees the study is “meant to give a better understanding of flood risk across the city on our public assets and how we can better prepare, plan and adapt for future flooding events.”

Key findings and examples - Exposure and sensitivity…