Vickie Hicks, who weaves intricate sweetgrass baskets in Charleston, South Carolina’s historic city market, remembers climbing onto the table at her grandmother’s booth downtown when the floodwaters rushed by.

The Coastal Resources Commission last week unanimously approved the reauthorization of the static vegetation line exception for Bogue Banks communities for another five years.

Six years ago, a young, emaciated sei whale that normally inhabits the deep waters of the Atlantic was spotted swimming erratically in tidal rivers and creeks near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

PINE KNOLL SHORES — Town commissioners are debating how to divide Federal Emergency Management Agency funding among several potential projects.

Forecasts of carbonate chemistry in coastal ecosystems determined from seasonal robotic measurements can improve fisheries management and help mitigate short-term ocean acidification events.

Congratulations to North Waterfront Park in Wilmington, North Carolina!

FOLLY BEACH — A new plan to battle erosion in this barrier island community would include larger beach renourishment projects than in the past and a newly constructed dune that would sit about 7 feet off the ground.

Virtually every property owner who built seawalls in an exclusive oceanfront community south of Myrtle Beach has torn down the walls they hoped would protect the neighborhood’s high-end homes from rising tides and storms.

BOGUE BANKS — Bogue Banks towns are still exempt from state oceanfront development setback rules, and proposed rules are in the works to encourage other coastal communities to follow their example.

I took a slight detour from rockfishing recently to join my buddy to do some DIY oystering on the lower Bay. Masked up, I sat on the bow as he maneuvered his skiff out of the creek through fog-diffused first light toward an oyster bar he’d marked on his GPS. We idled past a marsh bank where we could hear voices —Youth Day waterfowlers perhaps? No way to tell if they were 50 or 500 yards away.

Winter project avoids impacting the tourist season

The state of Maryland is kicking off an exploration of the sediment impacted behind Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River and how that clay, silt and sand — mixed with various forms of debris and pollution — might be reused.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is currently accepting applications for “on-water” cleanup assistance relating to its annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project.

Defense Department funds oyster reef and shoreline restoration in Virginia and North Carolina

Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) hosted 259,618 visits* last month, up 37.58% from October 2019.

Maryland is ticketed to receive more than $2.8 million in federal funding and associated grant money to prevent coastal flooding in the town of Oxford on the Eastern Shore.

A small group of Tangier watermen find themselves competing with Virginia’s biggest power company, Dominion Energy, for natural resources in an area just outside the Chesapeake Bay 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.

Dozens of North Carolina residents and a recreational fishing advocacy group have filed a lawsuit against state regulators over what they call “abject failure” to “properly manage” the state’s coastal resources.

The Carteret County Beach Commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend the county “stay the course” and not opt into a federal nourishment program for Bogue Banks.

Commissioners Tuesday night authorized Town Manager Matt Zapp to negotiate a contract with engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol to develop a comprehensive stormwater management plan.

It’s a lawsuit four years in the making, and one the Town of Ocean Isle Beach hopes is resolved soon so construction of a terminal groin (a type of jetty) can move forward, while conservationists hope that does not happen.

This week, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission will consider approving a proposed “temporary” regulation to restore a permitting system to authorize activities in wetlands that federal agencies determine are no longer protected under the federal Clean Water Act.

On a still day, floating in a flat-bottomed boat in the waters that stretch like sheets of glass between the mainland and the barrier islands off Virginia’s Eastern Shore, it’s hard to believe anything in this corner of the world has ever changed at all.

After sustained cleanup operations for last month’s oil spill in Delaware Bay spearheaded by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control and the U.S. Coast Guard, under a unified command, Delaware’s beaches have all been declared substantially “cleared,” officials announced on Nov. 13.

Oysters are making a comeback in Herring Bay.

This year has been a rollercoaster for many of those who manage rental properties in the beach towns that dot the coastline of Southeastern North Carolina.

The collapse of the South Carolina tourism industry picked up additional downward momentum during the first week of November – with revenue losses accelerating amidst another spike in coronavirus cases.

The Carteret County Beach Commission is poised to make a major decision Monday — whether to switch from local and state funding to federal funding and management for Bogue Banks beach nourishment projects.

The impact of climate change may be most visible in the Arctic, but the former commanding general of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island argued Wednesday that it and other coastal bases face drastic threats from the warming planet.

The same day Charleston warned residents to prepare for coastal flooding and rising waters, the harsh realities of the city’s vulnerability to disasters was dropped on government leaders.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is fielding attacks from two recreational fishing groups, alleging the agency exhibits “abject failure in properly managing the state’s coastal fisheries resources.”

A dredging project will be going on in the Ocean City inlet throughout November, and it’s a win-win for boat navigation and erosion prevention in the area.

North Topsail Beach is moving forward with plans to embark on a joint, 50-year, multi-million-dollar beach renourishment project.

OCEAN CITY, Md. — The completion of one of two proposed wind farms off the coast of Ocean City may be delayed for the second time this year, according to the company in charge of the project.

Tide gates, dune working at Read Avenue bayside

A local environmental group and a state agency have been awarded state grants for restoration projects in Carteret County.

Few places in the Charleston region have witnessed as much change during the past generation as the Cainhoy peninsula.

Three Cape Fear area towns are getting money from the state to improve beach access and parks.

Every fall, with the moon closest to the Earth, Virginia experiences its highest tides of the year.

The sand needed to rebuild beaches along South Carolina and other parts of the Southeast will become scarcer over the next 50 years and there may be shortages, an analysis done for the Army Corps of Engineers says.

North Topsail Beach has signed onto a federal beach nourishment project that will require the town to consider funding options.

When volunteers head out to map the growing reach of Virginia's tidal flooding, one of the obstacles can be the water itself.

Delaware Audubon Society wants an accounting of the environmental calamity in the Delaware Bay.

Dr. Michael Kemp, a longtime Eastern Shore scientist who was renowned for his research on estuary ecology, has passed away after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

The Division of Coastal Management (DCM) will select up to 20 municipal and county governments throughout the 20 coastal counties of North Carolina to receive no-cost direct technical assistance services to complete Phases 1 and 2 of the N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP).

University of North Carolina researchers have been awarded a $3.5 million grant to study extreme weather events using an interdisciplinary approach, which is to combine methods, insights and data from natural and social sciences, geosciences and engineering, to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies for future storms and flooding.

Virginia leaders recently gathered to break ground on expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the largest infrastructure project in the state’s history.

EMERALD ISLE — The Emerald Isle beach nourishment project is officially set to begin the final week of January.

The Unified Command for the Delaware Bay and Atlantic coastal beaches oil response today began the process of evaluating cleanup operations across sections of Delaware and Maryland coastline impacted by tar balls and oiled debris to determine how much of the beach cleanup has been completed.

A new interstate regional collaboration in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic may lead to more offshore wind energy development.

The Maryland Department of the Environment has joined the U.S. Coast Guard and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control in a joint response, Wednesday, overseeing the cleanup operation of weathered oil called tar balls and oiled debris scattered along the shoreline from Bowers Beach, Delaware to Ocean City, Maryland.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it released a draft Integrated General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment for the City of Folly Beach and its barrier island.

Resilience framework will prioritize regional coordination and nature-based solutions to aid vulnerable communities

MOREHEAD CITY – Noted coastal researcher, educator and environmental advocate Charles H. “Pete” Peterson of the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences died Saturday.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners approved during its regular meeting last week a $1 million grant from the state to help assuage the financial strain caused by last year’s Hurricane Dorian.

SLAUGHTER BEACH — As cleanup to a widespread oil spill continued Monday, officials urged the public not to handle any affected material or try to assist wildlife along the Delaware coastline.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a fast-motion version of the slow-moving disaster unfolding because of global warming, but the two world-wide threats are getting sharply differing responses.

Damage to beach vegetation in parts of Oak Island from Hurricane Isaias in August has prompted state officials to propose new, temporary development rules.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing year-round maintenance hopper dredging and bed leveling for the Wilmington and Morehead City harbors and the Division of Coastal Management is accepting comments on the proposal until Nov. 25.

A pair of supersized cranes that will let the Port of Charleston handle some of the biggest container ships arrived Monday at Columbus Street Terminal downtown, keeping the State Ports Authority on track for the March opening of its new container terminal in North Charleston.

The Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Planning Framework, introduced this week, lays out the core principles of the Commonwealth’s approach to coastal protection and adaptation, and will serve as a blueprint for implementing Virginia’s first project-driven Coastal Resilience Master Plan by the end of 2021.

Flooding and sea-level rise pose a critical threat to Charleston’s business community, the workforce it supports and the viability of low-lying areas as sites for future investment.

NORTH CAROLINA (WAVY) — The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) is awarding $11.5 million in grants to eight communities in coastal North Carolina for projects related to Hurricane Florence damage.

Virginia unveiled a sweeping plan on Thursday for how to best safeguard Hampton Roads and other coastal communities from rising seas, increased flooding, and more frequent and intense storms in the coming decades.

Charleston’s nearly $500 million investment in fixing the city’s drainage woes is continuing as residents, businesses and first-responders find themselves more frequently wading through flooding on both rainy and sunny days.

As the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control continued assessing and cleaning an oil spill that came ashore Monday afternoon at Broadkill Beach, the agency has determined the affected area has grown.

Pamlico County, wedged between its namesake sound and the mouth of the Neuse River, is surrounded by water on three sides and is a target for hurricanes that sweep up the North Carolina coast.

At a recent event in Suffolk, Virginia, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced a $225 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD).

GEORGETOWN — Industry is visible all along this historic city’s waterways, including a paper plant and an on-again, off-again steel mill.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Dominion Energy announced Wednesday that the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project has completed the final stage of testing and is ready to enter commercial service providing clean, renewable energy to Virginians.

COLUMBIA - After five years filled with unprecedented flooding, South Carolina has now established an office to marshal the state's efforts in stemming floodwaters and coordinating recovery and relief efforts.

As summer dawned in Ocean City, Maryland, some public health officials feared that outbreaks among beach-goers could reverse a declining COVID-19 trends statewide.

A Topsail Island federal beach nourishment project has been delayed following financing concerns from North Topsail Beach officials.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) experienced a 42% increase in recreational visitation* last month compared to September 2019.

Seas are rising. The land is sinking. And hurricanes seem to pose a greater threat with every passing season.

Don’t forget, our coast and businesses need lasting protections.

The study is a blueprint for capitalizing on this habitat’s capacity to store carbon

12MW project is now ready for commercial operations to deliver power to Virginia customers

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - An ambitious project is looking to connect two portions of the East Coast Greenway in Brunswick County while recognizing and promoting the history of the Gullah Geechee people who settled across the southern coastal counties in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

BERLIN, Md. — Very few positive developments have come from COVID-19, but new data suggests the pandemic could be a reason why Maryland state parks and Assateague Island National Seashore have shattered their previous attendance records.

Learn how oysters, which are woven in the culture and history of the state, help the environment and boost the economy during North Carolina Oyster Week.

As sea level and extreme weather risks rise, larger down payments, inequities in insurance, and heirs’ properties could leave coastal residents drowning in debt and devalued homes.

EMERALD ISLE — Crews from Florida-based company EarthBalance harvested enough beach vegetation cuttings last week in Emerald Isle to grow 300,000 plants that will be planted on dunes created next year in a major beach nourishment project along the town’s strand.

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement titled Sediment Management Framework has been issued for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Sunset Beach has resubmitted permit applications to state and federal agencies after finding a new proposed location to put the sand the town hopes to have pumped from surrounding waterways.

RALEIGH — Several Carteret County municipalities were among more than 40 local governments in North Carolina to receive grants and zero-interest loans through the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

Dominion Energy’s two massive wind turbines loom large off of Virginia Beach’s coast.

There are protests outside Town Hall.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, and the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) are launching a study to determine ways to address marine navigation at the Seagirt Loop channel in Baltimore Harbor, with goals of improving capacity, safety and efficiency at the Seagirt Marine Terminal within the Port of Baltimore.

Just before 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday in August, Lisa Soriano waited patiently near the entrance to Britt’s Donuts, a Carolina Beach Boardwalk fixture since 1939.

As sea level and extreme weather risks rise, larger down payments, inequities in insurance, and heirs’ properties could leave coastal residents drowning in debt and devalued homes.

Worried that work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline could resume shortly, opponents are asking a federal court to intervene.

Across South Carolina, the ground was sodden.

There should be no offshore oil drilling along the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. Not ever. Period.

PINE KNOLL SHORES — Bogue Banks’ economically crucial beaches are in good shape, thanks to millions of dollars spent on ongoing beach nourishment efforts, according to a report presented Monday to the Carteret County Beach Commission.

Three barrier islands near Charleston have spent the last several months slowly choking off public access to their beaches, creating an uproar around the state over who deserves the right to use South Carolina beaches: islanders or outsiders.

Officials announced Thursday a new initiative to help the state prepare for the affects of climate change while reducing damages from future disasters such as hurricanes, flooding and wildfires.

Being a Hampton Roads resident means an uncomfortable familiarity with stormwater. Few of us have escaped the summer storms that bring the deluge of rain, wreaking havoc on the side streets’ traffic. Thankfully each city has a stormwater management department on its own crusade, combating the flash flooding and the subsequent waterway pollution.

BOSTON — Increased tidal flooding, beach erosion and aging sea barriers are among the climate change concerns threatening a famous coastal destination in Massachusetts, according to a report released Thursday by a leading conservation group in the state.

Repeated hurricanes drive up costs and risk as developers flood beach towns, but NC fishing piers provide habitat, recreation and economic draw.