- The largely African American neighborhood of Chesterfield Heights in Norfolk, VA, has experienced increased flooding, which is being linked to climate change.
- The Ohio Creek Watershed Project is a $112 million effort to address the flooding problem in Chesterfield Heights and Grandy Village, where 90% of the residents are Black and have a median household income of $33,958.
- The project, dubbed as “historic”, is significant because it is one of the few instances where public investment is being made to protect an underrepresented community, rather than just important infrastructure or high-end real estate. This is an example of environmental justice and climate justice as the residents of Chesterfield Heights have been affected by environmental racism and are now receiving much needed attention and resources.
By Bay Journal | January 30, 2023
Graige Johnson is sick of the flooding in his community a few blocks east of downtown Norfolk.
A burst of rainfall turns low spots into ponds and some roads into canals. Even without a raindrop in sight, the water can still collect. A few times a year during abnormally high tides, the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River backs up into the storm drains, causing water to bubble up into the streets.
Things weren’t always this bad, said Johnson, who has lived in the largely African American neighborhood known as Chesterfield Heights, since 1991. He blames climate change.
“As far as I’m concerned,” said Johnson, a 75-year-old retired longshoreman, “it’s real.”
A growing line of research shows that the burdens of climate change are likely to be borne by underrepresented groups. A study led by the University of Bristol in Britain last year captured the problem in sharp detail, suggesting that Black communities in the U.S. will see flooding costs increase at about double the rate of those that are predominantly white.
Gathering data from flood insurance claims, building inventories, population projections and other sources, researchers identified which census tracts are likely to experience the highest flood risks by 2050. Most were in the Southeast and home to large Black populations.
The study shows dozens of high-risk Black communities around the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with the biggest clusters lying in Prince George’s and Dorchester counties in Maryland, the Northern Neck of Virginia and a corridor straddling the James River between Norfolk and Richmond.
Chesterfield Heights and its neighbor, the Grandy Village public housing complex, are like many African American neighborhoods facing climate perils, with one major exception: Something tangibly monumental is being done about it.
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