Roughly 62% of likely voters consider flooding a serious threat to Virginia’s economy, poll shows

By PETER COUTU THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT | MAY 07, 2021 AT 10:00 AM

Source: Virginia Pilot

Photo Source: Unsplash, Chirs Gallagher

Kids ride their bikes through flood waters following a rainstorm in Norfolk on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. (Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot)

A majority of likely voters view flooding and climate change as serious threats to Virginia and its economy — and want the state to do more to combat the issues, a new poll shows. The poll shows that many voters believe those are pressing concerns the government needs to address, with nearly half of the polled coastal voters reporting they believe sea level rise will directly impact them in the next decade. A little more than 60% of statewide voters said flooding and climate change already are having a “serious impact” on the commonwealth, according to the poll. And 62% of likely voters consider flooding a serious threat to Virginia’s economy. Emily Steinhilber, the director of Virginia coastal resilience for EDF Action, the advocacy partner for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the polling results show these are bipartisan issues that matter to those living on the coast and throughout the rest of the state. The survey was conducted by Global Strategy Group, with 900 interviews conducted throughout the state — 421 of those participants were from coastal Virginia. The margin of error at the 95% confidence level for statewide likely voters is +/- 4.0% and 4.8% for coastal voters. EDF Action paid for the poll.

Since 1960, Hampton Roads has seen more than a foot of sea level rise, with the rate of rise accelerating in recent years, according to tide gauge data from Norfolk’s Sewell’s Point. Research projects that it will become even steeper in the coming decades. The region also is seeing significant storms more frequently. “Voters across the commonwealth understand that climate change is a now issue, it’s not a future issue,” Steinhilber said. “It’s impacting our communities and our people and the way we live — today.” At the same time, the poll shows that likely voters have little awareness of the state’s current plans for how to combat the problems. About four in five had heard little or nothing about the master plan Virginia is developing. Even fewer had heard about the new statewide Community Preparedness Flood Fund, which will help pay for some projects aimed at reducing the risk of flooding throughout Virginia. But still, more than three in four likely voters polled said they want to see Virginia’s next governor, who will be elected this fall, “take action to protect Virginia’s communities from the risk of flooding.”

And roughly two-thirds of those polled said they support using state money to pay for projects that the master plan identified as necessary — with Democrats being significantly more likely to agree with that idea than Republicans.

Peter Coutu, Staff Writer

Peter Coutu is a reporter on the Virginia Beach team, covering the southern parts of the city, sea level rise, flooding and transportation. He joined the paper in 2018 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rain Harvesting and Rain Gardens are two ways to mitigate flooding. What other ways can we address flooding? What other things do you do to mitigate climate change? Where are you located? What is your extreme weather or weather challenges?

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